LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Chap. Copyright No... 

Shell --V „ 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



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.nobieoq. 




From statue by Michel Angelo. 147 5-1 564 




Suitable fof ^Grammar X>; 
Interesting subject ; majestic com 
position. ™ 



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MOSES 

From statue by Michel Angelo. 1475-1564 



Suitable for Grammar Grades. 
Interesting subject; majestic com- 
position. 



y 



SCHOOL SANITATION 
AND DECORATION 



A Practical Study of Health and Beauty in their 
Relations to the Public Schools 



BY 



SEVERANCE BURRAGE, B.S. 

PROFESSOR OF SANITARY ENGINEERING IN PURDUE UNIVERSITY, AND 
MEMBER OF THE AMERICAN PUBLIC HEALTH ASSOCIATION 

AND 

HENRY TURNER BAILEY 

STATE SUPERVISOR OF DRAWING, MASSACHUSETTS 



^JW 



\ 



D. C. HEATH AND COMPANY 

BOSTON • NEW YORK . CHICAGO 



TWO COPIES RECEIVED. 

Library of Congret* 
Office of the 

DEC 9- 

Register of Copyright*' - 



L- x"i \ 



50945 



Copyright, 1899, 
By D. C. HEATH & CO. 



SECOND COPY, 






-<^teg^s. 



TCorfoooti ^ress 

J. S. CuBhing & Co. — Berwick & Smith 

Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 









FOREWORD 

Our country shall be filled with a race of royal men 
and women. They will be strong and beautiful, for 
they will have physical and intellectual health. They 
will be righteous and happy, for they will have the 
piety so happily defined by Dr. William T. Harris, — 
" the piety not merely of the heart, but the piety of the 
intellect that beholds truth, the piety of the will that 
does good deeds wisely, the piety of the senses that 
sees the beautiful and realizes it in works of art." 

It is hoped that this little book may contribute to the 
forces which are cooperating to produce the crowning 
race in America. 



in 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction xiii 

Purpose of the book. Danger in treating the subject 
too rabidly. Modern educational methods tend to make 
school work as easy as possible. Tendency to improve 
architecture and sanitary condition. Results of improve- 
ments, rounding out the characters of pupils and bettering 
their health. 

CHAPTER I (Burrage) 

Location of Schools i 

Selection of site in country districts. Selection in cities. 

CHAPTER II (Bohn) 

Construction and Requirements of School Buildings 8 
Development of schoolhouse architecture. Sanitary 
laws. The financial problem. Construction require- 
ments. Protection from fire. The exterior design. The 
interior design. Special problems : one, two, four, and 
eight room buildings. 

CHAPTER III (Burrage) 

Principles of Ventilating, Heating, and Lighting . 33 
How air is vitiated. Effects of bad air. Ventilation 
requirements. Tests for bad air. Methods of ventilating. 
Natural ventilation. Artificial ventilation. Gravity and 
fan systems. Amount and direction of light. Effects of 
bad lighting. Artificial lighting. Laws regulating win- 
dow space abroad. 



vi CONTENTS 



CHAPTER IV (Burrage) 



PAGE 



Sanitary Problems of the Schoolhouse 60 

Discussion of sanitaries, sewerage disposal, and provi- 
sion for pure and sufficient water supply. Methods of 
drinking. Baths. Care of school building. General 
duties of janitor. Cleaning, sweeping, dusting, care of 
closets. Importance of sanitary inspection. 



CHAPTER V (Burrage) 

School Furniture 73 

Desks, blackboards. Special accommodations for sick 
teachers and pupils. Drinking cups and drinking foun- 
tains. 

CHAPTER VI (Bailey) 

The Schoolroom 83 

Character. — A study ; not merely a workshop or a 
parlor. Should be convenient and beautiful. What con- 
stitutes a beautiful room. 

Finish. — Selection of wood: oak, its advantages of 
texture and color ; ash, special value from cheapness and 
color ; North Carolina pine, special values under certain 
conditions of light, etc. Whitewood, disadvantages. Fin- 
ish for natural woods. Painted, finish, advantages and 
disadvantages. 

Walls and Ceiling. — Selection of color according to 
conditions of light, finish, etc. Advantages of oil colors. 
Character of surface to serve well as a background for 
pictures and other art objects. Suggestion for coloring. 

Window Shades. — The inside blind. Venetian blinds. 
Curtains : color, hanging, etc. 

Other Permanent Furnishings. — Desks. Book-cases. 
Cabinets. The school bulletin. 



CONTENTS vii 



PAGE 



CHAPTER VII (Bailey) 

Schoolroom Decoration 94 

Danger of over-decoration. Examples of bad and good 
decoration : 

Pictures : — Kind of pictures ; subjects ; framing ; hang- 
ing. Graded list of pictures." 

Casts. — Selection with reference to position, lighting, 
etc. ; tone ; hanging. Graded list of casts. 

Other Beautiful Objects. — Selection with reference to 
color, form, and use. 

Flowers. — Window gardens ; potted plants; cut flow- 
ers. Use as a means of culture. 

CHAPTER VIII (Bailey) 
The Old Country Schoolroom 122 

"A condition, not a theory. 1 ' First steps toward 
beauty : purification, order ; painting, the finish ; the 
walls, the ceiling ; window shades ; flowers ; one good 
thing; collection of prints. Desirable pictures and casts. 

CHAPTER IX (Burrage) 

School Children 127 

Arrangement of children in rooms. Regulation of 
school work to accommodate age, sex, and individual. 



Care of health. Contagious diseases in schools. Precau- 
tions against spread of disease among pupils. Medical 
inspection of school children. 



CHAPTER X 

Influence of School Life upon the Eye . . . 146 

Structure of the eye. Tests of vision. Long-sight. 
Near-sight. Effect of poorly printed books and unsan- 
itary conditions. 



v iii CONTENTS 

CHAPTER XI (Burrage) 

PAGE 

School Authorities and Patrons 159 

Responsibilities of cities, towns, and school boards. 
Interest of teachers in the sanitary conduct of schools. 
Interest and influence of parents. 

CHAPTER XII (Bailey) 

Beauty in School Work 168 

Beauty in all school work supplementary to beauty in 
schoolroom. Beautiful environment insufficient of itself. 
Beauty of room reflected in beautiful work. 

Adaptation, arrangement, enrichment. Examples of 
applied art from the work of teacher throughout day. 
Relation of good decorations to daily work. 

Results in nature study, history, geography. Literature. 
Picture study. Secured by forethought as to materials, 
arrangement, color, finish. 

Examples of the work of pupils. 

APPENDIX 185 

A classified list of works of art suitable for schoolroom 
decoration. 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



PHOTOGRAVURES 

Moses Frontispiece. 

From the Colossal Statue by Michael Angelo. 

FACING PAGE 

The Three Fates xvi 

From the Pediment of the Parthenon. 

Spring 4 2 

From Painting by Corot. 

The Golden Stair 5 8 

From Painting by Burne-Jones. 

The Escaped Cow . . . . ■ . . . .74 

From Painting by Dupre. 

The Gleaners I 3& 

From Painting by Millet. 

Aurora I S 2 

From Painting by Guido Reni. 

Holy Family .168 

From Painting by Murillo. 



PLATE 

I. 
II. 

III. 

IV. 

V. 



PLATES 

View of Twelve-room Schoolhouse 
Entrances to Public Schools No. 10 and No 

napolis, Ind 

View of an Attractive School Cabinet . 
Stairway Landing and Assembly Hall . 
Plan for One-room Building . 

ix 



45, India- 



18 
20 
22 
26 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



VI. 

VII. 

VIII. 

IX. 

X. 

XL 

XII. 

XIII. 

XIV. 

XV. 

XVI. 

XVII. 

XVIII. 

XIX. 

XX. 

XXI. 

XXII. 

XXIII. 

XXIV. 

XXV. 

XXVI. 

XXVII. 
XXVIII. 



XXIX. 



XXX. 
XXXI, 



FACING 

detached 



Plan for One-room Building (with 

closets) ........ 27 

View of One-room Building, Center Township, 

Porter County, Ind 28 

Plan for One-room Building (with teacher's posi- 
tion behind the pupils) 30 

Plan for Two-room Building . . . 31 

Plan for Four-room Building .... 32 

Plan for Eight-room Building, with Assembly Hall 33 

View of Eight-room Building, with Assembly Hall 34 

View of Eight-room Building 35 

Corner of a Kindergarten Room, Indianapolis, Ind. 82 

An Attractive Window-Garden, Pasadena, Cal. . 83 

By the River-Side. From Painting by Le Rolle. . 90 

The Lion of Lucerne. T/iorwaldsen ... 92 

Reading Homer. Alma-Tadema .... 93 

View of an Over-Decorated Schoolroom . . 94 

View of a Well-Decorated Schoolroom . . 95 
View of a Well-Framed Picture. (Caritas, Abbot 

TJiayer) 106 

Cast of Madonna and Child. Donatello. (View 
under full front light) . . . . .108 

View of the same under a side light . . . 109 
View of the same under selected side light . .110 
(a) Bambino. Luca delta Robbia. {p) Lion. 

Barye. (c) St. John. Donatello . . .111 
View of Assembly Hall, High School, Medford, 
Mass. . . . . . . . .112 

View of High School Library, Springfield, Mass. 113 
(a) The Fighting Te'meraire. Turner, (b) Feed- 
ing Her Birds. Millet, (e) Notre Dame de 

Paris, (d) Madonna of the Chair. Raphael. 114 
(1) View of Two Flower Vases and an Ornamental 
Jar. (2) View of Two Flower Vases and a 

Japanese Figure. Bunkio Matsuki . . . 115 

View of the Sacred Lily fitly set. Bunkio Matsuki 1 16 

View of an Object of Beauty. Bunkio Matsuki . 117 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



XI 



XXXII. View of Decorative Tiles 
XXXIII. The Effective Use of the Jardiniere. 



Weed 



XXXIV. An Appropriate Vase for a Single Plant. Weed . 

XXXV. Vases Appropriate in Form and Color to the 

Flowers they Hold. Weed .... 

XXXVI. A Well-Placed Flower. Weed .... 



FACING PAGE 

. 118 

. I20 
121 



122 
123 



[Plates numbered 37 to 52 follow page 184.] 

XXXVII. (1) Number Paper, by a First Grade Primary 
Pupil. 
(2) An Artistic Spelling Paper. 
XXXVIII. View of a Well-Arranged Paper and its Opposite. 
XXXIX. View of Pictures, Mounted by Fourth Year Pupils. 
XL. Language Paper, by an Eighth Grade Pupil. 
XLI. A Well-Spaced History Paper, by Fifth Grade 

Pupil. 
XLI I. A Well-Balanced Paper, by Fifth Grade Pupil. 
XLIII. First Page Design, by an Eighth Grade Pupil. 
XLIV. Cover Design for Papers upon Egyptian Art, by 

an Eighth Grade Pupil. 
XLV. Two Sketches in Writing Ink. 
XLVI. A Cover Design by Ninth Grade Pupil. 
XLVII. Object Drawings in Two Colors and Black, by 

Ninth Year Pupils. 
XLVIII. A Drawing in Pencil, by a High School Pupil. A 
Drawing in Water Color, by a Normal School Pupil. 
Examples of Good Arrangement. 
XLIX. Studies of a Sprouting Bean, by a High School Pupil. 
L. Cover for Set of Papers on Greek Architecture. 

Designed by Normal Pupil. 
LI. Cover for Set of Greek Papers.' Designed by a 

High School Pupil. 
LII. View of Room in Normal School at Salem, Mass. 



x ii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 



FIGURES IN THE TEXT 

FIGURE PAGE 

i. Cove Base Molding 15 

2. Window Sill 16 

3. Heating and Ventilating System with Inlet and Outlet on 

the Same Side of the Room 44 

4. Ditto, with Inlet and Outlet on Opposite Sides and near 

the Floor 45 

5. Ditto, with Inlet near the Floor and Outlet near the Ceil- 

ing on the Opposite Side 45 

6. Ditto, with Inlet High and Outlet near the Floor on the 

Opposite Side 46 

7. Ditto, with Inlet High and Outlet High and Opposite . 47 

8. Effect of Steam with Direct Radiation . . . 51 

9. Effect of the Unjacketed Stove 52 

10. Slow-Combustion Ventilating Stove 53 

11. Adjustable Desk 77 

12. Sanitary Drinking Fountain 81 

13. Color Diagram 88 

14. Tone Diagram 89 

15. Pedestal no 

16. Frame for Cast in 

17. Vases for Flowers 119 

18. An Attractive Window 124 

19. Distorted Position caused by a High Desk . . -132 

20. Vertical Section of the Eyeball 146 

2 1 . Diagram showing effect of Biconvex Lens on Rays of Light 147 

22. Eye Test 148 

23. Section of Hypermetropic Eye 149 

24. Section of Myopic Eye ....... 151 

25. Chart showing Prevalence of Nearsight, Farsight, and 

Normal Vision at Different Ages . . . . 153 

26. Models of Arrangement for Written Work . . . 174 

27. Symmetrical Arrangement 175 

28. Balanced Arrangement 176 



INTRODUCTION 



The sanitation and decoration of schools is a subject 
that in the last few years has received much attention. 
Teachers and school boards have become interested in 
it and have made much progress, but there has been no 
concise work that they could use as a guide. It is hoped 
that this book may fill the want. 

There are two ways of treating a subject of this kind. 
One is to deal with it rabidly, trying to impress the 
reader with the idea that the public schools are teeming 
with dirt and filth, that they are the chief factors in the 
spread of disease among children, finally leaving the im- 
pression that the public school must be an exceedingly 
bad place to which to send boys and girls. The other 
way is to treat it with reason, quietly admitting that 
there are conditions to be improved, that there are some 
unsanitary and unsightly schools, and showing how such 
conditions may be remedied, and how lessons may be 
learned from experience for the better construction and 
conduct of new buildings. 

If the writer should choose the first method, he 
would be apt to discourage his readers so that little 
or nothing would be done to improve matters, and the 
object of the book would not be accomplished. It is 
the intention throughout these pages to treat the sub- 

xiii 



xiv INTRODUCTION 

ject as reasonably and helpfully as possible, to encour- 
age, not discourage, reforms in the sanitation and deco- 
ration of our public school buildings, to the end that 
money expended upon the construction, decoration, and 
renovation of our schools may be used to the best ad- 
vantage, and that cities and towns may become more 
attractive and beautiful by having artistic and healthful 
schools. In this way we may contribute to future com- 
munities the possibility of a more healthy and vigorous 
manhood and womanhood. 

Educational theories have so far broadened that it is 
no longer claimed that the old schools were the best 
schools, where hard benches, poor print, plain walls, and 
bad air were the constant companions of the pupils 
while they studied. Because Benjamin Franklin, or 
Abraham Lincoln, or anybody else, was successfully 
reared under such unfavorable conditions, is no reason 
why the boys and girls of to-day, who have an entirely 
different environment, should be subjected to any un- 
necessary hindrances or dangers. 

In any community tfyere are a few exceptionally 
healthy and bright pupils who will make their marks, 
no matter how poor their instruction and surroundings. 
But it is the object of the public school system to edu- 
cate all of the children. It is recognized that all cannot 
stand hardships and unfavorable conditions such as are 
mentioned above. In fact, comparatively few children 
of the present time could go through the old school 
system without receiving some mental or physical scar 
resulting from the bad conditions. Perhaps the child 
of to-day is a more delicate organism than the child of 
fifty or a hundred years ago. Whether this be true or 



INTRODUCTION XV 

not, unnecessary stumbling-blocks must not be placed 
in the path of his educational career. 

In order to realize that this fact is appreciated by 
modern educational authorities, it is but necessary to 
step into some recently built school and compare it with 
any schoolhouse of long ago. The difference is at 
once seen. The present tendency is toward making 
the work as easy and interesting as possible, and the 
surroundings healthful and beautiful. The studies are 
arranged in their proper sequence, the hours of work 
and recreation are balanced and regulated, the rooms 
and halls are more or less decorated with pictures, 
statuary, photographs, and plants, — all tending toward 
the rounding out of the pupil's character. While we 
may take great pride in this advance, the fact must 
not be overlooked that there are many schools that are 
in this respect behind the times. It happens here also, 
as in every reform, that there are some instances of 
overdoing, in which matters are carried so far that 
much if not all of the benefit is lost. Some teachers 
are naturally more enthusiastic than others, and perhaps 
carry the " open-window " idea or the " picture-hanging " 
to excess, while others turn their backs on the whole 
thing as being outside their province of work. It does 
not seem right that one school in a community should 
have beautiful architecture, sanitary surroundings, and 
fine interior decorations, while the schoolhouse only a 
few blocks away may be poorly located and constructed, 
badly ventilated and heated, and have no beautifying 
features inside or out. It is evident in such a case 
that all the children in this town are not given equal 
opportunities for education. Furthermore, if we com- 



xvi INTRODUCTION 

pare the amount and kind of decoration in the various 
rooms of a single building, we cannot fail to notice the 
lack of harmony. One room may have a few fine works 
of art, good taste being shown in the selection and 
hanging ; another may have its walls literally papered 
with photographs and pictures cut from magazines ; and 
still a third may have no decorations whatever. Such 
variations are largely, if not wholly, due to the teachers. 
It will be admitted by all that there are reforms to 
be carried out, faults to be remedied, unsanitary condi- 
tions to be removed, and proper ideals in architecture 
and decoration to be maintained. We hope that teachers 
and school officials will find the facts, ideas, and illus- 
trations set forth in the following pages valuable to 
them in pushing forward the work that has already 
been so well begun in the sanitation and decoration of 
our public school buildings. 




THE THREE FATES 



From the pediment of the Partner] 




Suitable for High School. 

A masterly group, wonderfully 
effective as lighted in the photogra- 
vure ; beautiful in composition of 
line. !&&.. ^M 






' 



83TA^ 33HHT 3HT 

nociociiiB*! 3rfJ lo Inarnibaq 3ffJ moifl 



.loorbS rigiH idi sidling 
ylfuhsbnow ,quoi§ yhsjgBm A 
-£igoJorfq aril ai bsJrigil as avhoaTta 
lo noili^oqmoD ni luliJuead ; sinv 

.sail 



SCHOOL SANITATION AND 
DECORATION 



ckjX^oc 

CHAPTER I 

LOCATION OF SCHOOLS 

Every condition and consideration which enters into 
the selection of a site for a dwelling becomes doubly 
important when applied to the selection of a school- 
house site. It is not customary for a man who is in 
his right mind to select for his home a site in the vicin- 
ity of a powder magazine. He is fearful lest the powder 
explode and destroy his life and property. Yet men, 
apparently sane, select most unsanitary and unsightly 
places for their dwellings, and for schoolhouses as 
well. 

It is probable that the average individual in this 
climate spends from 85 to 90 per cent of his time in- 
doors. In the case of school children, perhaps more 
than half of this indoor life is in their homes, and 
nearly all of the remainder would be spent in the 
schoolhouse. During school hours the children are 
subjected to the influence of their surroundings, be 
they good or bad. If the children are compelled by 
law to attend school, the authorities should spare no 
pains to make their environment the best. 
b 1 



2 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

The question of school location includes the consid- 
eration of a number of important points, such as the 
character of the soil, the condition of neighboring lots 
of land, the proximity of hills, trees or buildings that 
would tend to shut out the sunlight. Usually it is the 
expense of the land and the central position of the lot 
that are the prime factors in the determination of a 
school' site, but this should not be so. The greatest 
attention and care should be given to the healthfulness 
of the site and the architectural possibilities that it may 
possess. If possible, the architect who is to construct 
the building should be consulted in regard to the lot 
before the final selection is made. In this way the 
public schools may become the most beautiful archi- 
tectural features of the town, as numerous examples 
show. In considering the location of country and city 
schools the problems that arise are so vitally different 
that it will be more instructive to study them under 
separate heads. 

LOCATION OF THE COUNTRY SCHOOL 

The modern community is tending toward the abolish- 
ment of the district school, collecting the teaching force 
into one large, central building, and transporting the 
distant pupils to it, thus not only saving considerable 
expense for fuel and other items, but at the same time 
giving to the pupils many advantages that they could 
never get in the rural school. Although this is the 
tendency, country schools will have to be built for many 
years to come, and there are a number of important 
points to be observed in the selection of a rural site. 



LOCATION OF SCHOOLS 3 

The character of the soil bears an important relation 
to the healthfulness of the site. Land which consists 
largely of clay is always to be avoided, because it takes 
up moisture and holds it, making the surroundings 
damp and unhealthful. Peaty soil also holds moisture, 
and should it be necessary to locate on either clay or 
peat, the greatest care and skill must be exercised in 
draining the lot. Sand and gravel are easily drained, 
and therefore should be selected if possible. Rock may 
furnish a good foundation for a site, if it is not so 
formed as to retain surface water. A lot that is of 
rock, if at the foot or on the side of a hill, may become 
moist at unexpected times and places. A thorough 
geological study is therefore necessary before deciding 
upon a rock site. In fact, in the selection of any site, 
it is essential that the survey should extend over all 
the adjoining country. A study of the school lot alone 
should never form the basis of selection. All the 
neighboring lots and the surrounding country should 
be included in the examination. 

The general slope of the land in the vicinity of a 
school lot should be such as to insure perfect and proper 
drainage. Swampy land, duck ponds, piggeries, or any 
other conditions that would give rise to temporary or 
permanent moisture, naturally are not the chosen com- 
panions of the ideal school lot. At certain times of the 
year, when the organic matter is in a state of putrefac- 
tion, such places would give rise to very unhealthful 
conditions. It is not desirable to place a school on or 
below the north slope of a steep hill, because in the win- 
ter months the sunlight could have very little if any 
access to the schoolhouse. No large trees should stand 



4 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

on the south or west sides of the building, nor should 
they stand on the other sides if they be near enough to 
check the free passage of air and light to the windows. 
A good and sufficient water supply must be obtain- 
able at all times. This is often overlooked until after 
the building is completed, and then it not infrequently 
happens that it is a matter of great expense to secure 
good water. It is really one of the most important fac- 
tors in the selection of a country school site. Children 
are apt to crave a good deal of water, and it should be 
accessible to them at all times. At no other period of 
healthy life is the want of a drink of water so cruelly 
felt. Without it children are deprived of one of their 
most necessary foods, upon which the maintenance of 
good health depends. No water should be supplied that 
is not absolutely pure and above suspicion. 

LOCATION OF THE CITY SCHOOL 

The selection of a site for the city schoolhouse is not 
usually open to much choice. Few good lots can be 
obtained, and perhaps the prices of these are of such 
a nature as to make them impossibilities to the average 
school board. But as a matter of fact, in the city even 
greater discrimination should be shown in choosing a 
site than in the country. The number of factors that 
tend to influence the sanitary condition of the build- 
ing in the city is far greater than in the rural section. 
Under these circumstances it becomes a very impor- 
tant matter to decide what considerations may or 
may not be disregarded in the choice of a convenient 
locality. 



LOCATION OF SCHOOLS 5 

It is not uncommon in the city that the choice of lots 
includes some that are designated as "made" or "filled" 
lands. This filling may consist of street sweepings, 
house refuse, and garbage. The gradual putrefaction 
of this organic matter would at times give rise to bad 
odors which would make the school yard unhealthful, 
and they might even affect the building itself. There- 
fore, such sites should be avoided if possible ; but if it 
ever becomes necessary to use "filled" land, every pre- 
caution must be taken to shut out these odors of putre- 
faction by carefully paving or cementing the whole 
school yard. If this be thoroughly done, the principal 
objection to "made" land has been removed so far as 
the sanitary conditions are concerned, but there are 
serious objections to this pavement or cement if the 
yard is to be used as a playground for the children. 

The relation of the surrounding objects to the city 
school is of far greater importance than in the country. 
Naturally the environment of the city site affects it much 
more directly. 

It is not advisable to locate the school building on a 
main street. This is particularly true if the street in 
question is paved with cobblestones or other form of 
noisy pavement. Noise is distracting to the children 
and seriously affects the nerves of both pupils and 
teachers. Children, more particularly the younger ones, 
are subjected to great dangers in such a locality from 
the large amount of traffic always prevalent on main 
thoroughfares. 

Neither should a schoolhouse be built in the vicinity 
of a noisy factory or of an establishment otherwise offen- 
sive, and after the schoolhouse is located and completed, 



6 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

the city should prohibit the erection of any such nuisance 
in the neighborhood. Naturally anything as noisy as a 
railway station or saw-mill, or anything as bad-smelling 
as a soap factory, tanyard, rubber works, glue factory or 
gas works, is exceedingly objectionable as aschoolhouse 
neighbor. Stables, slaughter houses, and markets may 
be objectionable and often very unsanitary, if proper 
disposition of the refuse is not made. Hospitals and 
cemeteries are best avoided ; also police stations and 
fire-engine houses, where sudden and distracting activ- 
ity is apt to occur, are best far away from the schools. 

It is unnecessary to dwell upon the importance of 
avoiding a section that is infested with any of the moral 
nuisances common to the cities. The social and moral 
character of the vicinity has a great influence on the 
school children. This matter should be carefully inves- 
tigated, and any doubtful locality religiously avoided. 

No building should stand within sixty feet of the 
schoolhouse on any side, and large trees or any obstruc- 
tion that could prevent the free access of both fresh air 
and direct sunlight to the school building should be re- 
moved. Sunlight is nature's great disinfectant, and it 
must not be prevented from doing its work of purifica- 
tion in and about the schools. The necessity of a play- 
ground is conceded, and no site should receive serious 
consideration where such cannot be provided. Outdoor 
recreation must not be discouraged or hindered by the 
lack of a proper place for wholesome play. 

Probably no country gives less attention to the careful 
location of schools than our own United States. In 
many countries there are strict laws regarding it, and 
certain men or commissions are appointed to attend to 



LOCATION OF SCHOOLS 7 

such matters. For example, in Scotland, under the regu- 
lations of the Educational Act of 1872, schools must be 
placed in a healthy neighborhood, as far as possible from 
noise, and having an uncovered area of at least twelve 
hundred square yards. In Belgium, all plans and 
schemes of schools, including their location, construc- 
tion, opening, ventilation, warming, lighting, drainage, 
and closets, etc., must be examined and approved by the 
Bureau d' Hygiene. In Germany, plans for new school 
buildings, or alterations in school buildings already built, 
must be examined and approved by a district doctor. 
He is intrusted with the superintendence of school 
hygiene in general. In Vienna, the site chosen for the 
school cannot be definitely accepted until the doctor has 
given his opinion as to the suitability of the land from a 
sanitary standpoint. The plan must then be examined 
by a commission composed of men skilled in teaching, 
in technology, and in medical hygiene. 



CHAPTER II 1 

CONSTRUCTION AND REQUIREMENTS OF SCHOOL 
BUILDINGS 

The development of our public school system, of 
which the schoolhouse is the outward and concrete ex- 
pression, belongs to this century. With the exception 
of residences, there is at the present day no kind of 
buildings in which all classes of community take a deeper 
interest. The doctor, the architect, the teacher, the 
parent, and the taxpayer, all contribute their criticism 
and offer their advice. 

The architectural development of the school building 
has not, however, progressed as rapidly as that of most 
other parts of our educational system. It is of com- 
paratively recent date, perhaps within the last twenty 
years, that schoolhouse architecture has received the 
attention which such an important subject demands. 

The school age includes the period of the greatest 
physical development. During this period the child 
spends a large part of his time within the school build- 
ing. It is desirable that he should not be subject to 
physical, mental, or moral detriment by reason of its 
bad arrangement or faulty architectural features. 

In Europe, prior to the thirteenth century, the schools 

1 This chapter is written by Mr. Arthur Bohn, architect, of Indianapolis, 
who also kindly furnishes plates and illustrations. 

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THE SCHOOL BUILDING 9 

were closely connected with the church, were generally 
conducted in the monasteries, and were chiefly devoted 
to the education and training of the clergy and nobility. 
There were not, in our sense of the term, schools for 
the benefit of the common people. 

During the latter part of the thirteenth and the four- 
teenth centuries there began to be established schools 
for the people, in which the elements of reading and writ- 
ing were taught. These feeble organizations received 
a quickening impulse when Martin Luther took up the 
cause of education, and in 1524 published a pamphlet 
addressed to the cities and towns, urging the advantage 
and necessity of establishing more common schools. 
Throughout Northern Europe from this time there was 
a gradual, although slow, improvement and widening of 
the scope of common schools. 

Up to this time it had been deemed proper to conduct a 
school in any place, or in any part of a building, where 
shelter could be found. With the growth of population, 
and the growing importance of the common people, 
came also the desire and necessity for special buildings 
for school purposes. These early buildings were of a 
primitive character, planned without reference to hy- 
gienic laws, and devoid of special adaptation to the pur- 
pose for which they were to be used. 

It is interesting to note, however, that in Germany, as 
early as 1649, Josef Furtenbach published a book in 
which he made a plea for the construction of healthy 
schoolhouses, and pointed out that schoolrooms should 
be cheerful and airy, and that each child should have a 
liberal allowance of floor space. It was a long time, 
however, before these good rules were put into practice. 



IO SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

As the education of the common people began to 
spread, its far reaching influence was recognized. Vari- 
ous nations saw therein their chief element of strength, 
the stability of their governments, and power to com- 
pete with one another. Governments took an increas- 
ing interest in public education, and at the beginning 
of this century all civilized countries had active laws for 
the care and fostering of educational systems. 

SANITARY LAWS 

The better knowledge of hygiene and its recognized 
importance have also brought about the enactment of 
laws relative to the proper hygienic construction of 
school buildings. In this country, particularly in the 
Eastern states, — foremost the state of Massachusetts, 
— these laws embody much of the present advanced 
knowledge of school architecture and sanitary science. 
In Massachusetts public attention was early drawn to 
the importance of this subject by the writings of Horace 
Mann, who, in 1837, said that not one-third of the school- 
houses of that state were fit for habitation. The fol- 
lowing year his report as Secretary of the Board of 
Education discussed at length the subject of better 
schoolhouses, and their heating and ventilation. 

While in a few of the Middle and Western states 
there are not as yet particular laws defining the con- 
struction of schoolhouses, much is included in the gen- 
eral building laws of these states, which the authorities 
enforce for the safety of the children, and with the 
power given to vigilant state Boards of Health much is 
done for proper sanitation. 



THE SCHOOL BUILDING II 

In the Report of the Commissioner of Education 
for 1893-94 is a sunnmary of the sanitary legislation 
affecting schools in the United States. From this re- 
port it appears that thirty-three states and territories 
had at that time enacted laws upon the subject, and 
in sixteen of the states provision is made for the in- 
spection of schoolhouse plans or buildings by some 
higher authority than the local Board, and in the major- 
ity of the states are statutes, more or less specific, re- 
quiring proper sanitation. Since the publication of this 
report several states which had not previously passed 
laws upon this subject, have enacted them. 

The last decade has brought about a greater willing- 
ness on the part of school authorities and taxpayers to 
consider these matters. This change of attitude has 
been clue to several causes, among which may be enu- 
merated the conclusions of the International Educational 
Congress held in 1880, the reports of the sessions of 
the International Congress of Hygiene, and the collec- 
tion of statistics showing the death-rate of children of 
school age in American cities as compared with Euro- 
pean cities. These statistics showed that the death- 
rate among school children in America is higher than 
in Europe, presumably for the reason that hitherto we 
have paid less attention to the proper hygienic construc- 
tion of school buildings. 

THE FINANCIAL PROBLEM 

Owing to the rapid growth of population and to 
the enforcement of the truancy laws, there has been 
such rapid increase in the number of pupils for whom 



12 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

accommodations must be provided, that, although im- 
mense sums are annually spent for new buildings, nearly- 
all communities, large and small, have within the last 
few years been unable to provide school room propor- 
tionate to this increase, and many expedients have been 
resorted to, — such as half-day sessions and the renting 
of vacant rooms. 

Naturally, where school authorities have had to face 
the problem of inadequate accommodations, they have 
not always had the financial resources or the freedom of 
choice necessary to secure the most desirable form and 
arrangement of school buildings. Yet, in the majority 
of instances, the new buildings have been in every way 
superior to those that were built a few years ago. 

The public school system has risen to be the most 
important department of our government, and the num- 
ber of people connected with it and the sums of money 
which are expended are enormous. For the school 
year 1896-97 the expenditure for public schools was 
$187,320,602. For several years the number of new 
school buildings erected has been nearly 6000 per year, 
and the annual increase in the value of school property 
has been nearly $14,000,000. 

It is interesting to note, for example, what is done by 
a single great city, such as New York. The budget 
for schools for 1897 was about $6,000,000, and the 
appropriation for schoolhouses for the same year was 
$10,000,000, beside $2,500,000 for the erection of four 
new high school buildings. 

The city of Chicago has recently purchased sites for 
the erection of thirteen new school buildings. The 
president of the School Board states that these build- 



THE SCHOOL BUILDING 13 

ings, which will cost $4,000,000, will do little more than 
care for the annual increase in population. 

In smaller towns public education forms relatively an 
equally important factor, as is shown by the fact that 
the town of Anderson, Indiana, — with a population of 
20,000, — annually erects one building, containing from 
eight to ten schoolrooms. 



CONSTRUCTION REQUIREMENTS 

The schoolhouse should be built substantially, of 
enduring materials, and with the best workmanship. 
The first outlay for the cost of any building erected in 
this manner is but a small per cent above one erected 
with cheaper materials and poor workmanship. The 
difference in the first cost is more than saved in a few 
years by reduced cost of repairs; this is particularly 
true of the schoolhouse by reason of the severe wear 
and tear to which it is subject by the nature of its 
usage. 

All schoolhouses should be built of brick. Frame 
houses are first of all a great source of danger from fire. 
The walls being thinner and more porous, the tempera- 
ture of the room is more subject to changes of heat and 
cold ; the economy of fuel in cold weather on this score 
forms quite an item. The necessity of repeatedly paint- 
ing a frame building forms a continuous source of ex- 
pense and annoyance. A brick schoolhouse should not 
only have its exterior walls of brick, but all the main 
interior partition walls, and the walls inclosing stair- 
ways, should be of the same material. The expedient 
of cheapening the building by making interior walls of 



14 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

frame is too often resorted to, with the result that by 
reason of shrinkage of the interior frame walls and the 
stability of the outside brick walls, the plastering of 
walls and ceilings becomes badly cracked and floors are 
thrown out of level, and in case of fire it may spread 
so rapidly as to endanger the lives of the children. 

The floors of the schoolroom should be stiff and 
sound-proof. Where the floor is constructed with a 
single span of joists, 25 feet or more in length, it is 
likely to have considerable vibration unless the joists 
are heavy and closely laid. This continuous vibration 
in the course of time will deteriorate the plastering on 
the ceiling and cause it to fall, to the great danger of 
the occupants. Many architects now remedy this by 
laying across the room one or two steel beams upon 
which the wooden joists rest, thus diminishing the span. 
All floors should be sound-proofed, which is best done 
with mortar deafening between the joists. Where econ- 
omy forms an object, double flooring may be used with 
a heavy layer of building paper between the upper and 
under flooring. This is not as good as mortar deafen- 
ing, but is much cheaper and still very effective. The 
upper or finished floor for schoolrooms should be hard 
wood, preferably oak. This should also be used in the 
corridors, if it is not possible to make these floors of 
tile. The basement floor should be cement or asphalt. 

Even where the attic is not used it should be floored 
over with common boards. This will admit of using the 
attic for storage, and will also help to keep the rooms 
warmer in winter. and cooler in summer. The cost is 
not very great and in a few years will pay for itself in 
economy of fuel. Where there is no such flooring, the 



THE SCHOOL BUILDING 15 

ceiling will become very much chilled and will mate- 
rially interfere with the working of the heating and ven- 
tilating system in rooms so exposed. 

All the interior walls should be plastered with good 
common mortar, except a dado to the height of about four 
feet, which should be made of cement mortar to with- 
stand the rough usage to which the walls to this height 
are subjected. This cement mortar dado should be in 
all schoolrooms and corridors, and along stairways. In 
many modern schoolhouses this dado is made of glazed 
brick, which is of course still better, being more sani- 
tary and more durable. The great expense of such 
work, however, will bar its general adoption. Wood 
wainscoting should not be used for sanitary reasons ; it 
has been found in many cases to form a home for 
vermin. Where a mortar dado is used, it should be 
painted with oil paint. 

The interior finish should be hardwood reduced to a 
minimum in size, and with few and plain moldings ; 
large and projecting moldings, which are inacces- 
sible and may catch dust, should be avoided. It 
is still better to avoid wood finish around windows 
and doors altogether, and simply finish around 
these with hard plastering with rounded corners. 
In many of the later schoolhouses this is now 

adopted. In this regard the 
principles and usage applied 

to the treatment of hospitals 
Fig. 1. — Cove Base Molding. , . , , , r , . , , 

also hold good tor the school- 
room. The base should be as low as possible, and should 
finish against the floor with a cove, as shown by the ac- 
companying sketch (Fig. 1); this admits of easy sweep- 




i6 



SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 



ing and avoids accumulation of dirt in the angles. This 

style of base is used in the Boston school buildings 

throughout. 

The windows should be constructed with great care, 

filling in behind the frames with mortar, and where the 

wood sills join the 
stone sills it is well to 
insert a small steel 
strip, as shown by ac- 
companying sketch 
(Fig. 2). The mor- 
tar and the steel strip 
will check draughts. 
On the exposed sides 
of the building it is 
well to provide double 
sash as described in 
Chapter III, under 




Fig. 2. — Window Sill. 



heating. 



PROTECTION FROM FIRE 

The causes of fire in schoolhouses are many ; one of 
the most common causes is to be found in the furnace 
room. Investigation of such fires has generally revealed 
the fact, however, that the furnaces have been cheaply 
and faultily installed. In many cases the basement 
was not deep enough properly to receive the furnaces 
and the hot air pipes, the top of the furnace being 
jammed close to the wood ceiling-joists ; sometimes the 
ceiling of the basement and furnace room was not even 
plastered, the wood being directly exposed. Where the 



THE SCHOOL BUILDING 17 

building is reasonably well built and the heating plant 
properly installed, there should be little danger from 
this source. 

Schoolhouses which are not more than two stories 
high, containing from eight to twelve rooms, and built 
with brick partition walls with sufficient stairways and 
exits, but with wooden floor and roof construction of 
sufficient strength, seem to be reasonably safe for chil- 
dren to occupy. There are few cases on record where 
the spread of fire in such buildings was so rapid that 
the children could not be removed with safety. 

In a large number of schoolhouses, apparatus such as 
stand pipes, fire pails, and fire extinguishers, is provided 
to fight fires, but experience has shown that not much 
reliance should be placed on this. In many schools 
it is customary to have so-called fire drills, for the 
orderly dismissal of the children in case of such an 
event, and there are instances on record where these 
have been effectually executed in actual need. More 
effective than these fire drills and other precautionary 
measures, however, is the sense of security among teach- 
ers and children, which will tend to avoid such panics as 
often happen with disastrous results, even where there 
is no need for alarm. It would be well therefore to 
build at least all stairways fireproof and enclosed in 
brick walls. 

In schoolhouses that are three stories or more in 
height, all stairways should be fire-proof, well enclosed, 
and if possible all corridors should be of fire-proof con- 
struction. This method is now being generally adopted, 
and should not add much to the per cent of cost of an 
otherwise well-built building. The revised building 



18 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

laws of Boston require that all schoolhouses built in 
that city must be entirely of fire-proof construction. In 
Indiana, according to the new law, all schoolhouses of 
three stories or more must be provided with fire escapes. 

THE EXTERIOR DESIGN 

The exterior of a schoolhouse should possess merit 
and artistic excellence in architecture, should be beauti- 
ful and dignified in design, and express the purpose for 
which it is used. Artistic results can be achieved by a 
skillful designer, through good proportion and careful 
disposition of masses. An artistic, beautiful, and well- 
balanced design does not necessarily increase the cost 
of a building. All architectural and decorative forms 
about the schoolhouse should be refined ; it costs no 
more, nor does it take more material, to execute beau- 
tiful forms than ugly forms. The schoolhouse should 
possess all the characteristics described, and should exert 
an elevating and educational influence. 

The most prominent feature and determining factor 
in the appearance of a schoolhouse is the quality and 
color of the material chosen for the exterior walls. 
Entire outside walls built of stone give the building a 
substantial and monumental appearance, but stone is 
seldom employed on account of expense. Next to stone, 
both in cost and appearance, comes pressed brick. 
Wall surfaces of pressed brick, when laid up in colored 
mortar to match the brick, have much the same qual- 
ity of uniformity as those of stone. The great advantage 
of pressed brick over common brick is the possibility 
of choice in color. A building of plain gray or buff 




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pressed brick, trimmed with some cut stone or terra 
cotta, always makes a refined appearance and will harmo- 
nize with any surroundings. With modern facilities for 
the manufacture of pressed brick, the additional cost 
over common brick is not such a great item. Where 
common brick must be used on the score of economy, 
these should be laid up with red mortar to match the 
brick, thereby giving the wall surfaces uniformity and 
the appearance of solidity. A building of red pressed 
or common brick is, however, an ugly blotch and a dis- 
turbing element to its surroundings, and is only fairly 
acceptable where it is in an open space surrounded with 
a great deal of greenery. 

The exterior design of a schoolhouse should be a 
truthful expression of the plan and the purpose for 
which it stands, and all such accessories as sham 
gables, sham brick towers partly resting on inside stud 
walls, should be avoided, and the use of galvanized iron 
for architectural features should be reduced to a mini- 
mum. 

The requirements of a modern schoolhouse are many 
and complex in their character, and require a thorough 
knowledge of the working of schools on the part of the 
architect, and conscientious study of each problem in 
order to find even a reasonably satisfactory solution for 
all demands. 

Among the principal requirements to be met in the 
planning of modern schoolhouses' are proper hygienic 
and sanitary arrangements, adequate heating and venti- 
lation, correct lighting of the schoolroom, an interior 
arrangement that will aid modern methods of school 
work and facilitate discipline. 



20 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 



THE INTERIOR DESIGN 

The planning of schoolhouses is based, first of all, on 
the unit of all schoolhouses, that is, the schoolroom. 
One of the chief determining factors in designing 
such buildings is the size of the room, which is 
established by the maximum number of pupils to be 
seated in it. Experience and careful consideration of 
the usefulness of instruction, the control of discipline, 
and sanitary reasons, have led to the general accept- 
ance of not more than 45 pupils as the best number 
for each schoolroom. A good size and proportion of a 
room for 45 pupils is : width, 24 or 25 feet, length, 31 
feet. The story height should be from 13 to 14 feet. 
These dimensions will give the number of square feet 
of floor space and cubic feet of air space required by 
hygienic laws and described more fully in Chapter III. 

The doors of a schoolroom should swing outward. It 
is well to put a large transom over the door for the 
purpose of ventilation. Every well-arranged school- 
room should be provided with a cabinet or closet for 
placing books and the utensils used for school work. 
These cabinets are often arranged to be placed in the 
wall, but in such instances they must often of necessity 
be so shallow as to be of little use, and generally 
cut into valuable blackboard space. Plate III shows a 
cabinet built separately and set. at the rear wall, where 
it also forms an ornament to the room. 

Next in importance to the schoolroom are the cor- 
ridors, stairways, and entrances, and the proper size 
and arrangement of these form an important factor in 
promoting discipline and in caring for the safety of the 






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THE SCHOOL BUILDING 21 

occupants. The entrances, vestibules, and corridors 
should be of liberal dimensions; the latter should have 
an abundance of light and be cheerful in aspect ; it is 
also desirable to give to them such decorative features 
and large proportions that they may express the noble 
purpose for which the school building stands. The ves- 
tibules and corridors, by reason of their dimensions and 
light, form a good architectural frame for the hanging 
of pictures and the disposition of casts where they can 
often be shown to better advantage than in the rooms ; 
provision for these should be made in the original 
design. Where corriaors are long, they should not be 
less than 10 or 12 feet wide, and all corridors should 
have direct light. 

Every entrance should be provided with a vestibule 
to which there should be, besides the outside doors, a 
set of inner storm doors which will prevent the direct 
cold coming into the corridors and keep them free from 
draughts. All of these doors should swing outward. 

When possible, the staircases should be built of iron 
throughout, having the treads either roughed or fitted 
with some of the recently invented lead and steel treads. 
The risers for the staircase in a schoolhouse should not 
be more than 7 inches high, and the treads not less 
than 1 1 inches wide. A good proportion is 6 inches 
rise and 12 inches tread. The balusters and rails, 
where these are used, should be constructed strongly 
and put up firmly, so that they may not give way 
during a panic. Many schoolhouse architects lay great 
stress on isolating the stairs as much as possible, and 
advocate box stairs enclosed with brick walls. Such 
stairways, however, do not present a good appearance, 



22 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

and rob the architect of one of his best opportuni- 
ties to develop such an attractive architectural feature 
as a grand and open staircase. Where there are suf- 
ficient stairways, and the building is not more than 
two or three stories high, it would seem safe to build 
the open staircase. Every staircase should have a 
landing for each story. Winding stairways should not 
be used anywhere. 

The cloakroom or wardrobe is a necessary adjunct to 
the schoolroom. There are at present three or four 
methods in common use for the reception of the cloth- 
ing. One is the cloakroom adjoining the schoolroom, 
with a door leading from the schoolroom to the cloak- 
room, and a door leading from the latter to the corri- 
dor. This method adds considerable to the area and 
cost of the building. In primary schools it has many 
advantages and should be used. For higher grade 
schools the garments are all concentrated in one 
or more rooms, usually situated in the basement. In 
such instances many of these cloakrooms are provided 
with individual lockers, with key or combination locks. 
This latter plan is expensive and complicated in its 
working. 

Another plan, and one which is considerably used 
in the East, is the ventilated wardrobe arranged in 
the corridor along the outside of the schoolroom wall. 
These wardrobes are heated and ventilated with the 
main halls, thus saving considerable expense. They are 
easily accessible and enable the designer to cut down the 
total area of the building considerably, and otherwise 
facilitate the planning. 

The toilet rooms should be conveniently located. 




PLATE IV. — STAIRWAY LANDING. 




PLATE IV. -ASSEMBLY HALL. 



THE SCHOOL BUILDING 23 

Usually they are placed in the basement, where water 
and sewerage systems are to be had. Where it is 
necessary to separate the toilet rooms from the main 
building, they should be connected with it by closed 
passageways, so as not to expose the children to the 
inclemency of the weather. 

The methods of furnishing the toilet rooms and the 
styles of fixtures to be used are described fully under 
Chapter IV. 

In addition to the requirements of a schoolhouse de- 
scribed above, the following rooms and provisions are 
desirable, and are now usually incorporated in new 
buildings : — 

Principal's office, 

Teachers 1 retiring room, 

Recitation rooms, 

Assembly hall, 

Store rooms, 

Lunch rooms, 

Bicycle rooms, 

Rooms for manual training. 

SPECIAL PROBLEMS 

One, Two, Four, and Eight-room Buildings. 

The number of one-room or district school buildings 
being erected, and the aggregate amount of money in- 
vested in them, is relatively large, particularly in the 
more thinly populated Middle and Western states, 
where they form and will form for the near future, at 
least, an important part of our schoolhouse architec- 
ture. The great wave of agitation going over our coun- 
try for the erection of better schoolhouses, demanding 



2zJ SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

that there be incorporated into these buildings our 
modern and enlightened ideals, applies with particular 
force to the little one-room district schoolhouse. If it 
is true that the good architectural design of the school- 
house, with its thoughtfully developed plan and cheer- 
ful interior, should contribute its share of elevating 
influence to the child, and be the source of a pleasant 
reminiscence in after life, then this is even more neces- 
sary in a small community where other outside refining 
influences and opportunities are less numerous than in 
the larger towns and cities. 

There is no good reason why the lighting of the 
schoolroom in a one-room building should not receive 
the same careful study as that of the rooms in a larger 
building, nor is there any reason why the air in a one- 
room building should not be just as pure as that of the 
rooms of larger buildings. These features of the school- 
house are not elements of cost, or at least not to the 
extent that is often assumed ; where these requirements 
have not been fulfilled, it is usually found to be due to 
a lack of knowledge of their importance, or to a want 
of care and conscientious performance of duty by those 
in charge. 

It often seems to the community in a country dis- 
trict that it requires no effort or sacrifice on the part 
of the city or town to erect a school building that meets 
all modern requirements and has an air of elegance. If 
one considers, however, that the city or town has not 
one, but many buildings to erect, it becomes clear that 
the burden is relatively quite as heavy in the towns and 
cities as in the country districts. It is true, however, 
that the comparative cost of the one-room building is 



THE SCHOOL BUILDING 25 

greater than that of a many-room building; but the 
total cost of the one-room building is always within 
reasonable limits, and a building once erected will 
serve for many years. 

The brilliant examples cited in foregoing chapters of 
what is being done, should incite in every community 
the desire to provide for every new schoolhouse, at least, 
those features which are now generally regarded as 
necessary for the welfare of the children. 

The obstacles in reaching a good final result for the 
one-room schoolhouse are numerous. One of the chief 
difficulties is probably the fact that, because the greater 
constructional features which enter into the planning 
of larger buildings do not arise here, it seems to the 
minds of many that the services of a trained architect 
are not required, and the erection of the little school- 
house is often left to the neighboring village builder 
who has never had time or opportunity for the devel- 
opment of taste, and who consequently does not ap- 
preciate the value of it, and whose attention has 
never been called to the scientific principles of school- 
house architecture. The one-room schoolhouse prob- 
ably shares that same indifference which is usually the 
lot of the smaller things in this world. In the one- 
room schoolhouse there are problems quite its own, not 
common to larger buildings, the proper solution of 
which is worthy of the best efforts of a trained archi- 
tect, particularly versed in schoolhouse architecture. 

The difficulty in the way of finding such talent con- 
veniently in the remote school districts, and the element 
of expense which such work entails, have led the school 
authorities of the state of New York to develop with 



26 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

great care a normal plan of a one-room school building, 
which was put in such form to be conveniently sent to 
the various school districts of the state that desire to 
avail themselves of it. These plans have been largely 
used and have been the means of the erection of better 
and improved schoolhouses. In other cases they stimu- 
lated to still better efforts, and many communities had 
plans prepared to meet their particular needs. 

Well-prepared plans can be used to better advantage 
for a one-room building than for a building of any other 
size, for they are suited to almost any size and shape 
of ground, and in the great majority of cases they can 
be readily adapted to the points of the compass for 
which they are intended. 

There is probably a greater tendency to build the 
one-room schoolhouses of frame than to use this ma- 
terial for the larger buildings. The reasons for this 
are : first, that this material is better adapted for use 
in small buildings ; further, in the outlying districts lum- 
ber is more readily to be had than brick or stone ; and 
the mistaken idea of larger economy also has its influ- 
ence. Among the district schoolhouses recently erected, 
there is a greater percentage of substantial brick build- 
ings than formerly, and with the rise in cost of lumber, 
by reason of its greater scarcity, it is to be hoped that 
brick district-school buildings will become general. 

The schoolroom of the one-room building is usually 
larger than that in larger buildings, it being customary, 
and often necessary, to put a larger number of children 
in the room of the district school. From fifty to sixty 
children are sometimes compelled to attend the ungraded 
school, the latter number however being unusual. 





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THE SCHOOL BUILDING 27 

In the one-room building it is possible to obtain light 
from both sides, and in some plans from three sides ; 
but the light should be chiefly from one side — the left ; 
other light should be from the rear. Windows opposite 
those along the side of chief light should be small and 
placed above the blackboards ; they should serve for the 
purpose of ventilation and for the entrance of some 
rays of sunlight if the house is so situated as to have 
the main source of light from the north. If windows 
are placed in the rear wall, these should be so arranged 
as not to be objectionable to the teacher, who will have 
to face them a considerable portion of the day. 

In many of the more recent plans, particularly in the 
East, there has been a tendency to attach the toilet 
rooms to the main building. While this has many 
advantages as to convenience, especially in inclement 
weather, it is quite offset where there is no sewerage by 
the very objectionable feature of having the toilets so 
near; and where the most thorough ventilation cannot 
be provided this becomes a serious consideration, es- 
pecially in warm weather. 

Every one-room building should have a vestibule with 
doors from the outside and doors from the vestibule to 
the schoolroom, to avoid cold draughts into the latter. 
The vestibule should be as large and spacious as possi- 
ble, and where a furnace is used it should have a small 
register to moderate the severe cold. 

The plans shown on Plate V,- taken from the book 
on schoolhouse architecture and designed by Mr. Warren 
R. Briggs, of Bridgeport, Conn., show the toilet rooms 
in the basement. In this case, however, they are ar- 
ranged with water and sewerage, that is, they are con- 



28 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

nected with a catch basin in a remote part of the lot. 
The water supply is pumped into a tank by means of a 
windmill. While this is expensive, it is no doubt the 
proper solution of this vexed question for the school- 
house in remote places where neither water nor sewer- 
age is to be had. 

The design on Plate VI shows a one-room schoolhouse 
with the closets detached, but connected with covered 
passageways. The arrangement for water supply and 
sewerage is the same as in the first case ; this building 
is likewise the work of Mr. Briggs. These plans other- 
wise have much merit, and embody some requirements 
not considered absolutely necessary, but which should 
be more generally adopted. Where the funds do not 
permit the installation and cost of maintenance of the 
toilet system as here described, a dry-closet system 
could be used to advantage, described in Chapter IV. 

Plate VII shows the elevation, of a one-room school- 
house in Center Township, Porter County, Indiana. 
This is considered the most expensive one-room school 
building in the state of Indiana, and is said to have 
cost $5000. It is the pride of the community of Center 
Township, and many come from the surrounding coun- 
try to inspect the building. The schoolroom is 34 
by 36 feet, with a seating capacity for sixty-four pupils. 
It is provided with an organ. There is an entrance hall, 
a teacher's room, a cloakroom, and a playroom in the 
basement, — where there is also a well. Part of the 
basement is divided off for the heating plant. The 
lighting of the room is equal from both sides, which 
is not to be recommended. The building is a story and 
a half, with a room for district meetings on the second 




PLATE VII. — ONE-ROOM SCHOOL BUILDING, CENTER TOWN- 
SHIP, PORTER COUNTY, INDIANA. 



THE SCHOOL BUILDING 29 

floor. The belfry has been made more conspicuous here 
than usual, by developing it into a full tower. 

Plate VIII shows an arrangement which has been 
suggested as particularly adapted for the work in the 
district school. In this room the teacher sits at the 
rear, with the scholars facing away from her. The 
recitation benches are at the back of the room and 
face the teacher. With this arrangement the teacher 
has a better opportunity of overseeing the class, and 
when recitations are going on the pupils who recite do 
not much disturb those who are studying. The teacher 
is not annoyed by looking into the glaring light of the 
windows, which in this case are on either side. 

In these small buildings the schoolroom should be 
arranged with the same care as in other buildings for 
the hanging of pictures and casts, of which good exam- 
ples can now be provided at a relatively low cost. 

The exterior of a small brick building, which would 
generally be built of common brick on account of ex- 
pense, should be laid up in red mortar, which lets the 
wall appear in solid masses, giving a more quiet appear- 
ance than where ordinary white mortar is used. The 
deep red brick walls generally contrast well with green 
surroundings. If the roof is of shingles, they should be 
painted — a shade of green will give the whole a pictu- 
resque and pleasing appearance. 

In the district schools of Indiana, the school bell is 
still generally retained, although -in the city and town 
schools the bell is a feature of the past. For the 
district school the bell has its purpose. The belfry 
on a one-room building offers opportunity for a good 
architectural feature, helps much to enliven the sky 



30 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

lines of the roof, and is the means of adding height to 
the low building. The belfry has come to be such an 
accepted feature of the one-room building that it is 
a distinguishing mark to interpret to the stranger the 
purpose of the building. 

Plate IX shows the basement and first story of a 
two-room building. This building is in one of the 
suburbs of Boston and was designed by Mr. Edmund M. 
Wheelwright, city architect of Boston at the time. In 
the basement are located the toilet rooms and play- 
rooms, with separate stairways for boys and girls. 
There are separate wardrobes for boys and girls for 
each room. This schoolhouse shows a liberal arrange- 
ment in planning, and is a model building of this 
character. The exterior is treated in colonial style. 
The dry-closet system was adopted, since there was no 
sewer available. The heating is by steam with indirect 
radiation. 

Plate X shows the first and second story plan of 
a four-room building. One advantage of this plan is 
that all four rooms are turned toward the same point 
of the compass, thus making possible a uniform arrange- 
ment of light and heating. This building has one 
large stairway, which is safe and ample for the ninety 
children on the second floor. The entrance is through a 
spacious vestibule, the floor of which is only six inches, 
or one step, above the outside walk. The steps leading 
up to the level of the first floor are inside the building, 
where they should be for every schoolhouse, since out- 
side steps become covered with snow and ice in winter 
and are a source of danger. Separate stairs for boys 
and girls lead from the vestibule down to the basement, 




PLATE VIII.— ONE-ROOM BUILDING. 

FRONT ELEVATION AND FIRST FLOOR PLAN. 

(Teacher behind pupils.) 

Vonnegut and B 0/171, Architects, 
Indianapolis, Indiana. 




BASEMENT PLAN. 



-SCHOOL ROOM- 




I I VESTIBULE I |o| 
WARDROBE 1 I gj 



BOYS 
WARDROBE 



B B ffl B 



FIRST FLOOR PLAN. 

PLATE IX. — TWO-ROOM SCHOOL BUILDING. 



Edmund M. Wheelwright, Architect, 
Boston. 



THE SCHOOL BUILDING 31 

where the play and toilet rooms are located. Opposite 
the main entrance is a passage which leads out to the 
playground. The steps leading to the level of the 
yard are likewise inside the building, and this entrance 
is also provided with a double set of doors to pre- 
vent draughts. The cloakrooms are large, conveniently 
located, and have direct outside light. The corridors 
are large and airy, with an abundance of light. On the 
second floor a teacher's room occupies the space which 
is used on the lower floor for a passage to the rear. 

The cost of this building, executed in brick, with in- 
terior brick partition walls, slate roof, basement under 
the whole building, heating and ventilation by means of 
large, hot-air furnaces, flooring deafened, and of good 
and safe construction, is about $12,000. 

Plate XI shows the first and second story plan of an 
eight-room building, with assembly hall on the second 
floor. Plate XII shows the exterior of this building, 
with the assembly hall well located in the central part. 

The entrance is large, leading to a spacious vestibule 
with a double set of doors and steps entirely inside 
of building, leading from the level of the outside walk 
to the first floor. The exit to the playground is toward 
the rear, under the main stairway, separated for boys 
and girls. From the rear vestibule separate stairs for 
boys and girls lead down to the toilet rooms in the 
basement. 

On the first floor, located near 'the entrance, are the 
principal's office and teachers' retiring room, besides 
storerooms and cloakrooms. The basement has two 
direct exits into playgrounds, and these are also used as 
bicycle runs to bicycle rooms in basement. 



32 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

There are four schoolrooms on the first floor and four 
on the second floor. These receive their light chiefly 
from one side, through large windows which come 
within six inches of the ceiling. The base around the 
rooms and corridors is cove-shaped, as shown in the illus- 
tration on page 15. There is no finish around the doors 
or windows. The angles formed by walls and ceilings 
are occupied by coves with about six inches radius, thus 
avoiding an accumulation of dust and aiding in the free 
movement of air. The dados throughout are of cement 
plastering covered with oil paint. One grand stairway 
leads from the first to the second floor. This stairway 
is altogether 28 feet wide, formed of one wide middle run 
and two side runs. The platform is large with room 
for flowers, as shown in Plate IV. From this plat- 
form a door leads directly out to a good fire-escape. 
The entire stairway is constructed of iron. 

The main feature of the second floor is the assem- 
bly hall shown on Plate IV. This assembly hall is 
large enough to seat all children attending the school. 
The building is heated with direct-indirect steam heat- 
ing for schoolrooms, and direct steam for other parts of 
the building. In the assembly hall a steam pipe runs 
along the full length of the hall, and serves as a foot 
warmer. The exterior of the building is laid up in 
common brick richly trimmed with cut stone work. 
The total cost was $26,000. 





PLATE X. — FOUR-ROOM SCHOOL BUILDING. 



Vonnegut and Bohn, Architects, 
Indianapolis. 




SECOND FLOOR PLAN. 




FIRST FLOOR PLAN. 

PLATE XL — EIGHT-ROOM SCHOOL BUILDING, WITH 
ASSEMBLY HALL. 



Vonnegut and Bohn, Architects , 
Indianapolis. 



CHAPTER III 

PRINCIPLES OF VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 

Sir Edwin Chadwick did not exaggerate when he 
said that good ventilation, heating, and lighting of a 
schoolroom will augment the capacity of attention of 
the pupils by at least one-fifth as compared with that of 
the children taught in schoolrooms of common construc- 
tion. In order to ventilate a schoolroom properly, it is 
necessary to remove quickly the air vitiated by respira- 
tion, and to replace it with fresh air. This must be 
done without producing perceptible draughts. The 
oxygen obtained from the air is absolutely essential for 
the continuance of all forms of animal life, school chil- 
dren not excepted. 

Expired air contains about four per cent of carbonic 
acid gas, besides having its volume of oxygen diminished 
by about the same amount. Furthermore, this expired 
air has become considerably warmer, and has acquired a 
large quantity of water vapor from the lungs and air 
passages. Carbonic acid gas is unsuitable for the sup- 
port of healthy respiration. It will not support com- 
bustion, as is shown by plunging a lighted taper into it. 
Animal life is almost as suddenly extinguished when 
placed in an atmosphere of it. Mixtures of this gas, 
with the common air in different proportions, give rise 
d 33 



34 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

to various symptoms that indicate incomplete oxidation 
of the blood, and in some cases cause slow death. 
However, the carbonic acid gas that occurs in the ex- 
pired air from man or animals seems to be far different 
in its effects from the carbonic acid gas derived from 
purely chemical sources. Carbonic acid gas is in itself 
odorless, and yet when we enter a crowded and poorly 
ventilated schoolroom we can always detect a very dis- 
agreeable odor. This is caused by a volatile, organic 
matter, which comes off from the body in the process 
of respiration, and which is the most vicious constituent 
of expired air. It is invisible and is very difficult to 
measure or analyze even by the most delicate chemical 
methods. It is this which we notice when we enter a 
close room, and being organic matter, it is subject to 
putrefaction. While it takes a large quantity of car- 
bonic acid gas to become injurious, a very small quan- 
tity of this organic poison may do much harm. It is 
possible, however, to measure the carbonic acid quite 
accurately. And as the organic matter increases in 
direct proportion with the carbonic acid, we can use the 
measure of the carbonic acid as the indicator of the 
amount of the poisonous material. In other words, we 
make our tests for this organic matter by measuring 
accurately the percentage of carbonic acid. It is an 
important fact for us to bear in mind that carbonic acid 
gas, as it comes from combustion or respiration, always 
appears in bad company. If, for example, it is the 
result of the combustion of coal, it is usually accom- 
panied by sulphurous acid, a poisonous gas ; and if 
it is the result of respiration, it is always accompanied 
by these minute quantities of volatile, organic poisons. 



VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 35 

As Dr. Ransome says : " The aqueous vapor arising 
from the breath and from the general surface of the 
body contains a minute proportion of the animal refuse 
matter which has been proved by actual experiment to 
be deadly poison. It is this substance which gives the 
peculiar, close, unpleasant smell which is perceived on 
leaving the fresh air and entering a confined space occu- 
pied by human beings and other animals, and air thus 
charged has been fully proved to be the great cause of 
scrofulous or tubercular diseases, and it is the home and 
nourisher of these subtile microscopic forms of life that 
have lately become so well known under the title of 
germs of disease or microzymes." 

EFFECTS OF BAD AIR 

There are several things about expired air that di- 
rectly affect the human organism. Expired air has less 
oxygen, contains considerable carbonic acid gas, to- 
gether with minute quantities of poisonous organic 
matter; it has a large amount of watery vapor and is 
warmer. That these factors have evil effects, especially 
when they are in a concentrated condition, has been 
unhappily proved in certain well-known instances. In 
the Black Hole at Calcutta, 146 persons were confined 
in a space 18 feet each way, with two small win- 
dows on one side. On the next morning 123 were 
found dead, and the remaining 23'were very ill. 

It must not be supposed, however, that no ill results 
follow a comparatively small degree of pollution, because 
these results are not immediately apparent. A general 
lowering of strength and vigor is produced, and a greater 



36 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

proneness to fall victim to respiratory and other dis- 
eases. The drowsiness and languor so frequently 
noticeable in school children are to the intelligent 
teacher, not an indication of wilful inattention, but of 
the need of purer air. Yawning, again, is a cry of the 
nervous system for purer blood, z>.,for blood containing 
more oxygen and less effete matter. 

It is in the highest degree unfair to expect the brains 
of children to be active in the exercise of their func- 
tions, while they are provided with blood which is 
vitiated by respiratory impurities, and are thus kept in 
a species of mental fog. 

TESTS FOR BAD AIR 

It is not necessary to go through a careful chemical 
analysis to ascertain the amount of impurities in school- 
room air. It is accepted among sanitarians that the 
maximum amount of carbonic acid gas permissible is 
.07 per cent. This does not mean that the carbonic 
acid gas is the dangerous thing, but that amount of car- 
bonic acid gas indicates the greatest amount of organic 
impurity consistent with the preservation of health. 
There is no simple test for the organic impurities in 
air, which are really more important, because more 
pernicious than the carbonic acid ; but inasmuch as 
the carbonic acid is nearly always in exact proportion 
to the organic matter, the test for the former answers 
equally well for the latter. 

This test, combined with the sense of smell on com- 
ing directly from the external air, gives most reliable 
indications which should never be neglected. 



VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 37 

A simple and rapid method for estimating the amount 
of carbonic acid in the air is described as follows by Dr. 
J. B. Cohen: 1 — 

(1) A standard solution of limewater. Pure water is 
left in contact with slacked lime until saturated. The 
clear decanted liquid is diluted with 99 times its own 
volume of distilled water. Make one quart or one liter. 

(2) Phenolphthalein solution is made by dissolving 
one part of phenolphthalein in 500 times its weight of 
diluted alcohol (equal volumes of pure alcohol and 
water). Make three ounces or 100 cubic centimeters. 

(3) A twenty-ounce stoppered bottle with (preferably) 
a hollow stopper marked to hold three drams or ten 
cubic centimeters. 

A sample of air is taken by blowing air into the clean 
stoppered bottle with bellows. Six minims or one-third 
of a cubic centimeter of the phenolphthalein solution 
is then added, and the measured volume of limewater 
is run into the hollow stopper. The limewater is poured 
into the bottle, the stopper inserted, the time noted, and 
the contents vigorously shaken. If the red color of the 
liquid disappears in three minutes or less, the atmos- 
phere is unfit for respiration. 

The stock of limewater should be kept in a bottle 
furnished with a top and coated within with a film of 
paraffin, and in the neck an open tube should be in- 
serted containing pieces of caustic soda or quicklime. 
The phenolphthalein solution is best measured by means 
of a narrow glass tube passing through the cork of the 
bottle upon which the measured volume is marked. If 

1 Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections, Vol. XXXIX, Washington, 
1896. Number 1073. Appendix. 



38 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

the cork fits easily, the liquid may be forced up exactly 
to the mark by pushing in the cork. 

The following are estimates made in this manner 
compared with the results obtained by Pettenkofer's 
method : — 

Time. Per cent. Volume 

Minutes. of Carbonic Acid. 

If I6l8 

If 1379 

12 I279 

3* 07716 

Ark • ' -05142 

5 0464 

1\ 035 1 

This method may be used in the classroom at any 
time, but care should be taken to insure the cleanliness 
of the bottles and the purity of the standard solution. 
No bottles that have contained any acid or alkali should 
ever be used, unless the bottles have been thoroughly 
cleansed and rinsed. 

In taking the sample of air with the bellows, it is 
well to have a rubber tube five or six feet long at- 
tached to the inlet opening on the bellows, thus guard- 
ing against vitiation of the air by the experimenter. 
The school children should not gather about the appa- 
ratus, as they might by their breathing interfere with 
the results. On the other hand, it is well to have them 
interested in the air test and as far as possible know 
what is being done ; they should also be told the 
results. 



VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 39 

VENTILATION REQUIREMENTS 

It has been seen that for healthy respiration air 
should never contain more than .07 per cent carbonic 
acid. Some authorities, however, place this figure at 
.06 per cent. We will place our standard at the former 
figure. Ventilation, then, should have for its object 
the keeping of the amount of carbonic acid gas within 
this limit. 

Each individual gives off in the process of respiration 
316 cubic centimeters of carbonic acid gas per minute, 
so that it requires not less than 590 cubic meters of 
fresh air per hour to keep each individual supplied 
with air containing less than .07 per cent of carbonic 
acid gas. Parkes, an authority on hygiene, gives the 
following figures for the amount of fresh air that should 
be supplied to persons in health and repose : — 

For adult males, 35 00 cu. ft. per head per hour. 

For adult females, 3000 cu. ft. per head per hour. 

For children, 2000 cu. ft. per head per hour. 

For mixed community, 3000 cu. ft. per head per hour. 

In actual practice, in the ventilation of schools, 2000 
cubic feet per hour is usually taken as the quantity 
of air that is practicable to furnish to pupils, and no 
plan or system of ventilation should aim at giving a 
smaller supply. No air should be considered too pure 
for school children. Each pupil should be provided 
with from 25 to 30 cubic feet of fresh air per min- 
ute, and this should be distributed without producing 
draughts, and having a temperature of not less than 
6o° nor more than 68° Fahr. 



40 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

The following rules respecting ventilation are of 
importance : — 

(i) The air should be drawn from a pure source. 

(2) No draught or current should be perceptible. 
Often the remedy for a draught is not to close the 
opening, but to make others in order to increase the 
area through which the air enters. 

(3) The entry of air should be constant, not at in- 
tervals. 

(4) An abundant exit for impure air should be pro- 
vided separate from the points of entrance of fresh 
air. In order to maintain a given standard of purity, 
it is necessary to provide for the removal of a volume 
of impure air equal to that of the pure air which is 
supplied. In order to satisfactorily fulfill all these re- 
quirements, it is necessary to understand fully the sev- 
eral systems of ventilation. 

NATURAL VENTILATION 

There are two natural agencies that are constantly 
assisting to bring about ventilation : the diffusion of 
gases, and the air currents formed by differences in 
temperature. 

Diffusion, by which the purer outside gases tend to 
mix with the impure internal air, is constantly going on, 
though under ordinary circumstances the rate of dif- 
fusion is slow, and the amount of interchange thus 
effected is but small. 

Differences in temperature cause much more active 
movements of air, warm air floating to the top of cold 
air, as oil floats to the top of water. The air in a room 



VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 41 

is warmed by the inmates and by the stove, gas, or 
other source of artificial heat. Cold air tends to rush 
in from every opening, and, being heavier than warm 
air, falls toward the floor, producing a draught. The 
great problem of ventilation is to secure a sufficient 
interchange of air without causing draughts. The en- 
trance of air at any temperature below 50 into a room 
whose temperature is 65 or even 70 is almost certain 
to be accompanied by a draught ; hence it is necessary 
to warm the entering air during the winter months. 

If a free entrance for pure air is not provided, the 
influence of the higher temperature in the schoolroom 
may produce an aspiration of air from undesirable 
places. Thus it not uncommonly happens that air is 
drawn directly from underground cellars, defective 
drains, water-closet rooms, and so on. 

For practical purposes there are two kinds of ventila- 
tion, natural and artificial. The former is produced by 
the ordinary interchange of air when doors and windows 
are allowed to remain open. The latter depends upon 
the assistance of the heating apparatus, or of some 
mechanical appliance for forcing the air into the rooms 
or of sucking it out from them. Natural ventilation 
is possible only during the warmer months. The colder 
the outside air, the more violent the draughts when it 
is admitted to the warm room. It is unsafe to rely on 
it for a supply of pure air when all doors, windows, and 
ventilators are closed. The diffusion of the outside 
air through the walls, cracks around doors and windows, 
etc., is insufficient to purify the air, and, if depended 
upon, will result in the foul atmosphere only too com- 
mon to schoolrooms. 



42 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

In order that natural ventilation may be more effec- 
tual, all corridors should be large and airy, and have 
windows opening direct to the outer air. No school- 
room plan which does not fulfill these conditions can be 
regarded as satisfactory. 

In the methods of ventilation hitherto described, the 
air is admitted at the same temperature as the external 
air. Such methods have, however, but a limited appli- 
cation in the northern United States. During a large 
portion of the year, in order to prevent dangerous 
draughts, the incoming air requires warming. 

When the external temperature reaches 6o°, or better 
still 65 , the air may be freely admitted. Open windows 
are by far the best means of ventilation, and during the 
school recess all the windows should be thrown open, 
opposite windows if possible, or doors and windows, in 
order that the rooms may be thoroughly flushed with 
air. Ordinary ventilation commonly leaves a consider- 
able proportion of organic volatile matter from respira- 
tion hanging about the room, while the rapid currents 
of air during the flushing of a room carry this away. 

Natural ventilation, as a method of purifying school- 
room air, must be discarded entirely during the winter 
months. 

ARTIFICIAL VENTILATION 

Artificial or forced ventilation refers to those methods 
which employ some artificial means for moving air. 
Nearly all such systems depend upon one of two things : 
(1) the rarifying power of heat applied to air in flues, — 
the so-called gravity system, and (2) the mechanical 
power applied through the medium of fans. In the 




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VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 43 

first method, the gravity system, the problem is to draw 
the cold bad air out of the rooms, and at the same time 
draw warm fresh air in. Warm air is lighter than cold 
and will always rise. Carbonic acid, at the temperature 
at which it is generated in the lungs, is considerably 
lighter than air, but as soon as it cools to the ordinary 
temperature, it becomes heavier and of course falls. 

The object of this gravity system is to remove the 
cold bad air from the bottom of the room, leaving that 
which is fresh and warm. It is not a very difficult mat- 
ter to create a strong current by heating air and allow- 
ing this heated air to pass up through a shaft or stack. 
If this stack is connected with the outlets for the bad 
air, the foul air will be withdrawn from the rooms 
by the force of the current, which tends to create a 
vacuum. The larger the number of outlets through 
which the air is being drawn out, the less chance there 
is for the creation of draughts along the floor of the 
room. Inlets for fresh air must be provided, and proper 
arrangements made for heating it, so that it will be 
circulated through all parts of the room at the proper 
temperature. It is readily seen that this fresh air does 
not have to be forced into the room through the 
inlets because the ventilating shaft tends to produce 
the vacuum in the room, and the fresh warm air will be 
sucked in to fill the vacuum. The action of the air 
currents in such a system is well shown in Fig. 3. 

The warm air, if allowed to enter-high in the wall of the 
room, makes a complete circuit of the room without creat- 
ing much draught, and is sucked out through the outlet 
by means of the sucking action caused by the -current 
of air in the ventilating shaft. While these currents 



44 



SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 



may be slightly affected by natural ventilation through 
doors and windows, the variation will not interfere ma- 
terially with the proper results being attained. The 
diagram provides, as can readily be seen, for both inlet 
and outlet on the same side of the room. Other loca- 
tions for these openings have been advocated ; for 
instance, the warm air inlet may be in the floor, and the 




Fig. 3. — Gravity System, with Inlet and Outlet on the Same 

Side of the Room. 



vent on the opposite side of the room and near the floor. 
The result of such an arrangement is shown in Fig. 4. 
In this case the distribution of the warm air is not 
complete. 

Still another arrangement is to have the warm air 
inlet on the floor at one side of the room, and the outlet 
high up on the other side. This gives still less distribu- 
tion of the warm fresh air throughout the room, as is 
shown in Fig. 5. 



VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 45 




Fig. 4. — Gravity System, with Inlet and Outlet on Opposite 
Sides and near the Floor. 




Fig. 5. —Gravity System, with Inlet near the Floor and Outlet 
near the ceiling on the opposite side. 



4-6 



SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 



Methods have been tried introducing the warm air 
rather high up in the room, and withdrawing it from 
the opposite side near the floor. Figure 6 shows that the 
results are similar to the last arrangement. These last 
cases are bad enough, but there are others even worse. 
Figure 7 shows the inlet high and the outlet nearly 
opposite. Where this plan is adopted, any escape of 




Fig. 6. — Gravity System, with Inlet High and Outlet near the 
Floor on the Opposite Side. 



the vitiated cool air must be brought about through 
the natural ventilation of doors and windows, or by dis- 
turbance of the lower atmospheric stratum, by the 
occupants of the room. Careful experiments have been 
tried in glass rooms by ventilation experts, who have 
watched the course taken by the air currents under 
these different conditions, the currents being marked 
by smoke, and thus easily studied. 



VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 47 

In practice, it is found advisable to have several out- 
lets for the air rather than one, as is indicated in the 
diagrams. Thus there is less chance for the production 
of draughts, and a better circulation is afforded. These 
gravity systems usually arrange for a mixing valve, by 
means of which the temperature of the fresh air is 
regulated, it being possible by opening or closing the 




Fig. 7. — Gravity System, with Inlet High and Outlet High and 

Opposite. 

valve to introduce more or less cold air directly from 
the outside as occasion demands. Automatic regulators 
(thermostats) have been devised and installed to open 
or close these valves, without requiring the attention of 
the teacher. In many instances, these work admirably 
but often get out of adjustment, in which case there is 
no ventilation, and either too little or too much heat. 

It is of the greatest importance in the introduction of 
this or any other recognized system of heating and 



48 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

ventilating that an expert engineer of wide experience 
should make the plans and complete the arrangements. 
Each school building requires a special study by itself. 
Two buildings constructed on exactly the same archi- 
tectural plans might require entirely different heating 
and ventilating systems, because of slightly different 
orientation or exposure. It has been the tendency in 
the past to economize on systems of ventilation ; but 
when the necessary expensiveness of good ventilation 
is fairly grasped by school managers, there will be an 
end of this attempt to save money, which is now so 
general. Such economizing is at the expense of the 
children's health and greatly tends to increase our 
mortality. 

The other method of artificial ventilation, that re- 
quiring mechanical means to force fresh air into the 
rooms, operates in exactly the opposite way from the 
gravity system. That is, the fresh air is forced into 
the schoolroom by means of a fan, and the foul air is 
pushed out through any openings in the rooms, and 
passes away through a stack. The air in the rooms in 
such a system as this is under constant pressure. All 
spaces are filled with air, and all leakage is toward the 
outside. Thus the entrance of contaminated air from 
any outside source is absolutely prevented. Such a sys- 
tem as this, in distinction from the vacuum system, is 
called the plenum. 

The diagrams shown in the discussion of the gravity 
system will answer as well for the fan system, if we 
imagine the warm air to be forced into the room, and 
the vitiated air to be pushed out through the vents. 

The plenum has one great advantage over the vac- 



VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 49 

uum system, in that the air in the rooms is under 
pressure, and there is no opportunity for bad air to leak 
into the rooms through floors or walls. Of course the 
air that is warmed and distributed must be taken from 
a pure source, and this leads to the discussion of an 
important point. This is the air supply. 

The air must never be taken from the basement. It 
must be taken in from the outside ; and the condition of 
the ground over which it is drawn is of great importance. 
The best conditions are afforded by a grass plot that 
can always be kept mown and clean. If necessary, it 
should be fenced off, and all scraps from lunches, loose 
papers, apple cores, banana skins, etc., must be kept 
from it. It should be the cleanest and most beautiful 
spot about the school, and should be as far as possible 
from the part of the building in which the sanitaries are 
located. In this way a pure, fresh supply is assured, 
and one that is comparatively free from dust. In warm- 
ing: the air, it is often advisable to furnish it with some 
moisture. This should all be arranged in connection 
with the heater. A room that is overheated with dry 
air is very oppressive. 

These systems, such as the gravity and the mechani- 
cal systems, require the expenditure of considerable 
coal or gas in order to heat the air and to run the 
necessary machinery. No system of warming and 
ventilating has as yet been devised which will work 
automatically. Any system, if, it is good for anything, 
must be supervised by a competent man. Brains are 
required as well as coal for an apparatus designed for 
this great purpose. The man who is responsible for 
the running of the heating and ventilating apparatus 

E 



50 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

not uncommonly regards good ventilation as inimical 
to his interests, and in case the heat is lowered, will 
sometimes stop the valve leading to the exit flues, thus 
penning up the hot impure air, rather than supply the 
extra fuel required. Of course it is for his interest to 
appear economical of coal. He is, therefore, under con- 
stant temptation to check the outflow of warm air from 
the rooms and to minimize the period of flushing them 
with the external air after school hours. 

Various other methods of heating schoolrooms are in 
common use. One that deserves some attention is that 
which utilizes steam for heating, the radiators being 
placed in schoolrooms next to the outside walls. Open- 
ings are cut through the walls at the base of these 
radiators, permitting the outside air to enter the room 
and become heated by passing between and around 
the various pipes of the radiator. The outlets for bad 
air are usually placed on the opposite side of the room 
from the radiators, thus insuring a fairly good circula- 
tion of the air throughout the room. 

The action of such a system on the air currents in 
the room may be seen in Fig. 8. 

Steam-heating, if the radiators are in the schoolrooms, 
is not advisable unless there are openings provided for 
admitting fresh air. The temperature is regulated with 
great difficulty, even if the valves are in good condition. 
The average steam-heated schoolroom is overheated. 

In smaller schools it has not been customary to intro- 
duce any of these more or less complicated systems be- 
cause of the expense, and yet none of the other methods 
that have been devised for them are perfectly satisfac- 
tory. The unjacketed stove, when placed in the school- 



VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 51 

room itself, cannot be considered with favor. It is true 
that several forms of stove have been arranged with 
jackets, double floors, ventilating shafts, etc., but even 
then, unless conditions are remarkably in their favor, 
such heating and ventilating apparatus will not work 
with satisfaction. In cold weather, in particular, such 
stoves will not heat the room equally. Some children 




Fig. 8. — Steam with Direct Radiation. 



will be warm and some cold. Stoves without any sys- 
tem of jacketing should never be used. They make the 
air very dry, produce a close smell, and heat the room 
only on the side where the stove happens to be. 

The distribution of the warm air in this case may be 
seen in Fig. 9. If this stove is jacketed, and proper 
means taken to heat and distribute outside air and to 
remove bad air, much objection is removed. It will be 
found, however, upon taking into account the expense 
of jacketing the stove, providing the necessary ventila- 
tion flues, etc., required to make it work satisfactorily,. 



52 



SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 



that the expenditure incurred will not be very far from 
that required for the construction of a cellar and furnace, 
and the latter system would give far greater satisfaction. 
One serious objection to having the heating apparatus in 
the schoolroom is, that any attention which it may re- 
quire during school hours is a cause of distraction to 
the children. 




Fig. 9. — The Unjacketed Stove 



Fireplaces are considered very good things to have 
in schoolrooms, but they must not be depended upon as 
the only means of heating and ventilating. A fireplace 
furnishes a cheerful warmth and is a great purifier of 
the air, but its heat is too unequally distributed. Even 
in smaller rooms it produces cold currents of air along 
the floor. Attempts have been made to utilize the heat 
usually passing up the chimney and wasted by the fire- 
place, by means of chambers behind the fireplace, In 



VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 53 

this way external air is warmed as it enters the room. 
A heater constructed on this plan is shown in Fig. 10. 
At the back of the heater is an air chamber communi- 
cating with the external air. 

Air admitted through the opening {a, Fig. 10) is 
warmed by coming in contact with the fire-clay {d), 





Fig. 10. — Slow-Combustion Ventilating Stove. 

1. Section of stove, showing — a, entrance of cold air; b, entrance of warmed 

air into room ; c, smoke flue ; d, fire-clay back of stove. 

2. Front elevation of same stove. 



which separates the air channel from the smoke flue (c). 
The warmed air leaves the air channel by the grating (b) 
over the fireplace, and then travels along the upper part 
of the room, falling to the floor as it cools, and finally 
escaping up the chimney. 

The distribution of air currents in a room with this 



54 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

arrangement would be similar to that shown in Fig. 3. 
A specially arranged fireplace of the kind just described 
might be found very useful in a very small room, but in 
the larger rooms it could hardly be satisfactory by itself. 

LIGHTING OF SCHOOLROOMS 

The proper lighting of schoolrooms is one of the 
most important problems of school hygiene, and yet we 
find very few schoolhouses that are really well lighted. 
The eyes are in such constant use in school that the 
conditions under which they work should be the most 
favorable. Direct sunshine in the schoolroom is always 
cheerful, and yet the eye is dazzled, irritated, and often 
permanently injured by working on objects that are 
directly illuminated by the sun. One of the most im- 
portant rules in the lighting of a schoolroom is to ex- 
clude the direct rays of the sun during school hours. It 
does not necessarily mean that the schoolrooms are 
best arranged on the side of the building which is not 
reached by the sun, because it is essential to utilize the 
sun's rays to purify the air of the room. The mental 
effect of deficient light is accompanied by an actual 
physical effect, so that we should guard against having 
too little light, just as much as against having too much 
light. The proverb weir says, that "Where the light 
cannot come, the doctor must." It has been observed, 
in practice, that the attendance in a poorly lighted 
schoolhouse is always less regular than in a cheerful 
and well-lighted school. 

The question in regard to direct sunlight entering 
the schoolroom has been a much debated one. In our 



VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 55 

climate there are many days in which clouds are rapidly 
passing over the sun, giving quite rapid alternations of 
light and shadow. The eye cannot accommodate itself 
to these rapid changes in the intensity of light without 
undergoing considerable fatigue. Professor Forster, of 
Breslau, says in regard to this matter : " Many of the 
advocates of the southern exposure of schoolrooms 
pass over this point lightly with the remark that pro- 
tection from the direct rays of the sun may easily be 
had by the use of curtains. But this ' easily ' I must 
dispute. The curtains are not yet invented that will 
keep back the direct rays of the sun and at the same 
time let the diffuse light of the clear sky pass through. 
The inventor of such a curtain would be regarded as 
a benefactor of the human race. As such a protection 
some have recommended thick, white linen. But this 
is too dazzling. Then ground glass has been recom- 
mended, but this is also too blinding in direct sun- 
shine, and in cloudy days intercepts the light too much. 
Again, all green, gray, or blue curtains, if thick, absorb 
too much light, and make the desks most distant from 
the window too dark. While, if thin, they let through 
too many of the heat rays. Venetian and other blinds 
darken the room altogether too much. If the curtains 
are brought across the upper part of the window, they 
obscure just that part of the window opening that is 
the most valuable for lighting the schoolroom." 

But Dr. Cohn, also of Breslau, the great authority 
on the hygiene of the eyes of school children, says 
that there never can be too much light in the school- 
room. His idea is, not that too much light will not 
injure the eyes, but that it is an easy matter to shut 



56 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

out the excess of light, while it is not easy to cut open- 
ings for windows after the window space has already 
been made. That is, if the available light by the window 
is insufficient, it is difficult to supply light in other ways. 
No definite statement can be made in regard to the 
extent of window surface in proportion to floor space 
that will fit every room, because there are such vary- 
ing conditions, particularly in cities. The light of the 
room is affected, for example, by the height of the 
houses across the street, the width of the street, and 
the frontage of the windows. All tend to modify any 
definite rule that may be laid down. 

The most radical authorities claim that one-fourth 
should be the proportion of window space to floor space, 
and the authority on the other extreme claims one-tenth 
as the proportion. This latter figure is out of the ques- 
tion except in very rare cases. One-fifth and one-sixth 
should be the minimum figures for window space. Un- 
der the ordinary conditions, many styles of curtains and 
shades have been devised and tried, but very few have 
seemed to answer the purpose satisfactorily. In re- 
gard to the location of the windows, authorities gener- 
ally seem to agree that they should be on the left of the 
pupils as they sit in the room. It is not advisable under 
any conditions to have cross lights — lights that will 
make shadows on the books or papers that the pupils 
may be using. It is not impossible to arrange a room 
with the main lights coming from the back and left, if 
the light which comes from the rear is high enough to 
prevent its making shadows. As a matter of fact, if a 
rear light could be arranged, that is, a light coming from 
the back of the room and striking over the shoulders of 






VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 57 

the pupils, the results would really be better than the 
light coming simply from the left. For example, it is 
not uncommon to see in a schoolroom, in which the light 
comes from the left, that the children tend to twist 
slightly, with their backs toward the windows, rather 
than to sit perfectly erect and receive only the side 
light on their pages. As has been said before, no light 
must be permitted which will create distinct shadows on 
the books. For writing purposes, undoubtedly the left- 
hand light is the correct one, but reading and study- 
ing figures occupy a far larger portion of the time of 
the pupils during the school day, and we should perhaps 
consider this as much if not more than the time for 
writing. Under most conditions, however, if the win- 
dows are large, high, and extend along the whole left 
side of the room, the light that is supplied cannot be 
far from satisfactory. The space between the windows 
in every case should be as narrow as will conform with 
good construction. In Holland, the minimum space 
between windows is stated at one and one-half feet. 
The window panes should be large and the glass of 
good quality. The light from the upper part of the 
window is the most valuable. All authorities agree 
that the tops of all school windows should be square, 
not rounding, thus permitting no waste of space which 
would permit the entrance of this high light. 

It is demanded, in some countries, that the windows 
should be so placed that from the' last seat in the room 
the child can see some sky. It has been said that no 
cross lights should be permitted. It is often advisable, 
however, to have windows, particularly in small school- 
houses, on both sides of the room for the purposes of 



58 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

ventilation. If this is done, by far the greater amount 
of light should come from the left side, enough to over- 
come any shadows that might be caused by the windows 
oa the right side. The latter should be high and small 
and looked upon more as ventilators than as windows. 

During the winter months it not infrequently happens 
in some of the darker rooms that it becomes necessary 
to use artificial light for a portion of the afternoon ses- 
sion. As a practice this should be condemned, because 
even if artificial light is used only for a short time, the 
eyes of many of the children are likely to be strained ; 
furthermore, under such conditions, the ventilation of 
the room is greatly impaired. On such days it would 
be preferable to dismiss school rather than to subject 
children to such disadvantages. The effects of bad 
light and the care of the eye will be treated in another 
chapter. 

A few words as to the lighting requirements in for- 
eign countries. In London, it is required that the win- 
dows should be so arranged that each part shall receive 
abundant daylight, and that the interval between the 
windows shall be as small as possible. The total super- 
ficies of the windows must be at least from one-seventh 
to one-sixth of that of the floor. They must be rec- 
tangular or slightly curved ; the bottom must be four 
feet above the floor, and reach to six inches from the 
ceiling ; they must as a rule only be placed on one of 
the long sides of the room. The upper squares must 
open inwards. The ceiling must be even and white. 
In Germany, the regulations are as follows : daylight 
may be admitted from the left or from behind, but not 
from both sides. The windows must have a surface 



THE GOLDEN STAIR 

From painting by Burne Jones. 1833 



Suitable for grammar grades. 

A fascinating composition ; end" 
lessly suggestive ; detail of great 
beauty. 












i.mt 



■ 
















. 





























HIAT8 Vl3.aJ.OD 3HT 

-££8i .8dno[ oniuS. yd ^nhnieq cnoi^ 



■ 
-bna ; noiiizoqraoD gnhtfifttpetf i 

.ylUBsd 



VENTILATING, HEATING, AND LIGHTING 59 

equal to one-fifth of that of the floor. In Vienna, it is 
required that great care must be taken that the windows 
are always quite clean. In Sweden, the surface of the 
windows must be equal to one-sixth of that of the floors. 
While so much attention is being given to the school- 
rooms themselves, the corridors and stairways must not 
be overlooked. It is important that these should be 
light and airy, and, if possible, should receive direct sun- 
light. It should never be necessary to have to light 
the corridors by artificial means. 



CHAPTER IV 

SANITARY PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOLHOUSE 

Along with the consideration of the heating and 
ventilating of schools are other sanitary problems, 
among the most important of which is that concerning 
the disposal of refuse. One of the first principles of 
sanitary science requires the quick disappearance from 
the buildings of the materials with which we are done. 
To comply with this law is one of the most difficult and, 
at the same time, one of the most necessary things to 
do. The more distant the building from the civilizing 
influence of the city, the more serious and difficult be- 
comes the problem. Where it is possible, as it usually 
is in the cities, to have sewer and water connections 
with the building, the problem is greatly simplified. 
The architect has no difficulty in specifying that some 
form of water-closets must be used. It is imperative 
that these should be of the simplest kind, and that there 
should be no mechanical parts of the apparatus liable 
to get out of order. They should work powerfully and 
automatically, and all of the plumbing should be of the 
best. This last is very important, because the building 
and its occupants must be free from the dangers of 
sewer gas. If there is no sewerage system, and the 
question of a cesspool arises, it is well to know that the 
cesspool is one of the greatest sanitary evils. It has 

60 



SANITARY PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOLHOUSE 6l 

been styled "the king of nuisances." No system of 
closets must be considered for a moment that cannot 
be connected with a city sewerage system. The cess- 
pool forms a manufactory for poisonous gases and is 
more dangerous in this respect than the badly con- 
structed sewer. The soil around the cesspool tends to 
become saturated with filth, and the children using the 
school yard for a playground would be in constant dan- 
ger from the effluvia arising from it. 

If the school is located where there is no sewerage 
system, the problem is by no means so easily settled. 
In the rural section it is utterly impossible to utilize 
the water system, and therefore the country school has 
to be given one of the so-called less civilized systems 
of sewerage disposal. It cannot have the water-closet 
without the cesspool, thus it is obliged to resort to some 
of the usual methods employed in rural dwellings, or 
else to use what is called the dry closet system, which is 
the most sanitary, although the more expensive way of 
getting rid of the wastes. 

This dry closet method is so important, from the 
standpoint of sanitation, that it is well worth while to 
describe it fully. In the first place, it requires abso- 
lutely fire proof material ; therefore the vault, floor, and 
seats are constructed of brick and iron. Everything 
must first fall upon a grating which extends the entire 
length of the vault. Beneath the grating is a series of 
corrugated spreading plates. Thus the whole mass is 
thoroughly exposed to the action of the heated air. By 
this evaporation and drying, the solid matter is re- 
duced fully three-fourths, and when this has accumu- 
lated sufficiently, it may be entirely destroyed by 



62 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

burning. One end of the vault is connected with the 
ventilating shaft which extends far above the highest 
part of the roof. Through this all fumes and odors are 
carried out into the open air. This shaft must be high 
enough to create a very strong draught. The solid ma- 
terials that are left in the vault are perfectly dry and 
rendered inoffensive. At the other end of the vault is 
the furnace whose function it is to heat the air to a 
high temperature, thus increasing its capacity for tak- 
ing up moisture. Such a system should never be con- 
nected, even very remotely, with the regular heating and 
ventilating system of the building. 

There are some objections to this system aside from 
expense. For instance, it requires a competent man on 
hand all the time, which is impossible in many small 
schools where the teacher usually has to do the janitor 
work. Another objection arises from the burning of 
the accumulated dried matter, which must be done from 
time to time. This is apt to cause complaints in the 
neighborhood, as would a garbage crematory. In many 
instances such complaints arise from prejudice against 
the system ; yet sometimes, though not often, there is 
really cause for complaint. Burning organic matter 
does cause a disagreeable odor, but as a rule it is not 
sufficiently offensive to become unhealthful. 

If for any reason this dry closet system cannot be 
adopted, the country school is left almost nothing to 
choose from. The only outbuildings to be considered 
(these must be outbuildings in every sense of the word, 
that is, must not be a part of the school building itself) 
are the so-called " earth closets." These will not work 
with sanitary satisfaction unless watched very closely. 



SANITARY PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOLHOUSE 63 

Moule, the originator of the system, well says that 
" earth closets will no more work without dry earth 
than water-closets without water." Sawdust answers 
very well in the place of dry earth, but pure sand and 
gravel, or chalk, are nearly useless. 

While earth closets may be utilized in the case of a 
dwelling-house with safety, there are so many factors 
about the school which tend to make them imprac- 
ticable that it is very doubtful if they can be recom- 
mended for schools. 

Where it is necessary to devise some means that can 
be regarded as perfectly safe by sanitary authorities, it 
may be possible to adopt an arrangement such as has 
been successfully tried abroad. The plan is to have 
large wagons backed in under the outhouses, these to 
receive the wastes, and at night horses can be attached 
and the material carted away and disposed of. 

To return to a further consideration of city schools : 
after having determined that the water-closet is for 
them the system to adopt, the problem arises as to how 
many closets must be provided for a school of a given 
number. 

Newsholme states that there should be one closet for 
every fifteen girls, and one for every twenty-five boys. 
In schools of higher grade, in which the pupils have 
recitation periods, these being never longer than fifty- 
five minutes, this number might not be far out of the 
way; but in schools of lower grades, where large num- 
bers are dismissed at once, a much greater number will 
be found advisable and necessary. The same problem 
arises as to the number of urinals for the boys. News- 
holme gives five for every hundred, but here again this 



64 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

number is far too small for the lower grades. The 
larger boys are apt to take advantage of their size and 
make it very uncomfortable for the smaller ones. 

Another serious question arises in this connection : 
Is it advisable to have each closet provided with a sepa- 
rate door, so that the pupil can shut himself in com- 
pletely ; or is it better to have a large screen in front 
of and protecting all the closets, thus permitting the 
teacher to keep an oversight over the boys. In the 
latter case, while the teacher could not actually be able 
to see the boys, it would give the youngsters a certain 
feeling of insecurity which would keep them from doing 
mischief that they might find an opportunity to do if 
they could lock themselves up. This screen method of 
concealment is not looked upon by some as quite modest 
enough for the best refinement, and yet when we con- 
sider the harm that boys can do to school property and 
to themselves, it must be regarded as an excellent safe- 
guard. The good that might come from such an arrange- 
ment must be far in excess of any harm from the possible 
unrefining influence. 

THE CARE OF THE SCHOOL BUILDING 

The care of a public school building must be of the 
very best in order to keep it in a healthful condition. 
One of the greatest evils in connection with the care of 
schools is the lack of cleanliness ; this is perhaps more 
prevalent in old school buildings than in new ones, be- 
cause in the new buildings there is usually more or less 
pride on the part of the janitor in keeping the halls and 
rooms free from dirt, and on the part of the teacher in 
keeping her room tidy and neat. But, on the other 



SANITARY PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOLHOUSE 65 

hand, it is the old school, with its old roof and floors, its 
dingy and rattly windows, its scarred desk and wood- 
work, that really needs the most care. In the country 
schools, also, where the teacher himself usually acts as 
janitor, it cannot be expected that the school and its 
surroundings can be kept in a very sanitary condition. 
It is an astounding fact to learn how many school build- 
ings never get thoroughly cleaned. For example, dur- 
ing a careful study of the sanitary condition of the 
schools in the city of Boston a few years ago, it was 
found that the floors of seventy-seven of the buildings, 
or 41 per cent of the whole number of schools, had 
never been washed since laid. It is true that in an old 
city like Boston there are many old-fashioned and some 
dilapidated schools, but that is no reason why an attempt 
should not be made to give them at least an annual dose 
of soap and water. We excuse a man who has a ragged 
coat if he keeps himself and his coat clean. A rickety 
or dilapidated schoolhouse is permissible in so far as it 
does not endanger the safety of the pupils. But in 
order to be permissible it must be kept strictly clean. 
Every school building should undergo a thorough clean- 
ing from top to bottom every year, preferably in the 
fall, a few days before the opening of the school. This 
cleaning should not take place on the day before the 
school opens, because, if done then, the floors and walls 
would hardly be dry, and there would be a damp atmos- 
phere about the whole building,' which would be disa- 
greeable if not unhealthful. The floors should all be 
thoroughly scrubbed, the woodwork washed and wiped, 
and every trace of the dust of the long summer vacation 
removed. 



66 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

It is a well-known fact that immediately after the 
opening of the public schools in the fall there is a 
marked increase in the diseases of children. It is not 
a very difficult matter to explain this. In the first place, 
the children are placed in rooms which are not always 
clean and perhaps not well ventilated. This change in 
itself, from the outdoor vacation life which they have 
been leading during the summer, would explain in part 
the increase in disease. Then again, in the country 
schools, particularly where the water is supplied from 
wells, and the school pump has been idle all summer, 
the water has become stale and stagnant, and the chil- 
dren are obliged to drink it. The fall term usually 
comes in warm weather ; the children crave large quan- 
tities of water at such a time, and if obliged to take this 
foul, stagnant water, it is not strange that some of them 
are made sick. These two factors at the opening of the 
school year, namely, the unhealthful school building and 
the bad water, account in part for the production of dis- 
ease. This being the case, it is not difficult to see that 
if the buildings are placed in a sanitary condition before 
the opening of the school by being thoroughly aired and 
cleaned, one of these factors in the production of disease 
will be removed. 

A few words about the dust and the dirt in the school- 
room are of interest here. Of what does this schoolroom 
dust consist ? Much of it is brought in upon the clothes 
and shoes of the pupils, and much is blown in as dust 
from the street. There are also small organic particles 
that are given off by the bodies of the children. Dust is 
known to be the carrier of disease germs. Consumption 
and many other infectious diseases are spread through 



SANITARY PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOLHOUSE 67 

its agency. Then again dust in itself is an irritant to the 
eyes and the air passages. It is, therefore, important 
that all possible means should be taken to keep the 
amount of dust in the schoolroom down to a minimum. 
It is the common practice in public buildings to sweep 
and dust an hour or so before the people are gathered 
together. This is the practice not only in theatres and 
churches, but also in many school buildings. If sweep- 
ing and dusting is done at such a time, the dust simply 
circulates about in the air, so that when adults or chil- 
dren come together, it is in the best possible position to 
cause them trouble. They cannot avoid breathing it. 
All cleaning of the school floors and furniture should 
be done daily at the close of the afternoon session, after 
all the pupils have left the buildings. The windows 
should be wide open during the process, and all dust 
that settles on the desks and furniture should be care- 
fully removed with a damp cloth. In order to prevent 
so much dust from flying about in the air during the 
process of sweeping, it is advisable to throw damp saw- 
dust over the floor. If the school has hard wood floors 
properly laid and oiled, they may be kept clean by wip- 
ing with a damp cloth. All the floors and the walls 
should be washed carefully at much more frequent in- 
tervals than is usual, if any regard is to be shown for 
cleanliness. The moral effect of a clean school building 
must be recognized. 

Consider the unclean and untidy condition of the 
homes of many children, and the effect upon them of 
entering and becoming a part of such schools. A well- 
kept school cannot but have its good influence, if the 
child is made to feel that the school building and one of 



68 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

the rooms and one of the desks belong to him for the 
time being ; and if everything around the building, the 
room, and the desk is clean and neat, the tendency will 
be for him to keep the desk and himself in the same 
condition. On the other hand, we can readily imagine 
the results if the school building and its various parts 
are uncleanly. 

One of the most important duties of the school 
janitor is the care of the sanitaries. The perfection 
and care of the sanitary arrangements of a school build- 
ing, or of any building, are the measure of the civili- 
zation of the community in which the building exists. 
The more perfect the arrangement and care, the higher 
the civilization. There are around the toilet rooms so 
many chances for the boys to do all kinds of mischief, 
that it undoubtedly takes a good-natured and hard- 
working janitor to keep things as they should be. Nev- 
ertheless every effort should be made on the part of 
the school management to have this properly done. 

In the care of the sanitaries it has been thought ad- 
visable sometimes to use some form of disinfectant or 
deodorant. In many cases where this has been clone, 
the supposed remedy has been worse than the evil it- 
self. That is, many so-called deodorants simply remove 
the foul odor of the sanitaries by giving forth a much 
stronger one themselves. It often happens that the 
odor of the disinfectant can be detected throughout the 
hallways of the schoolhouse, and sometimes even in 
the schoolrooms themselves. This is an exceedingly 
unpleasant feature, because it is constantly reminding 
one of the presence of the sanitaries in the building. 
Absolute cleanliness, brought about by the plentiful use 



SANITARY PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOLHOUSE 69 

of water, is far preferable to the use of chemicals. This 
cleanliness, combined with good ventilation, will prove 
the best remedy for bad odors. 

Another matter that deserves attention is the water 
supply. In many large cities the public supply is pol- 
luted and dangerous to drink without being treated in 
some way. It is perhaps necessary to introduce some 
form of filter which will insure a safe drinking: water. 
The ordinary water tap filters do not do very much 
good, and it is advisable to use some such form of fil- 
ter as that devised by Pasteur, or some sort of scien- 
tific mechanical filtration. 

The distribution of pencils has in late years been a 
subject of considerable discussion, because of the dan- 
ger of infection. We know that the children suck the 
pencils more or less, and scratch their heads with them, 
and so on, and that many contagious diseases are spread 
in this way ; this is really a very serious matter. It 
seems advisable, therefore, that except in the lowest 
grades, children should have their own pencils and pens, 
and either keep them in their own desks, where they 
will always be sure to use the same ones, or else to have 
them collected in regular cases with numbers, so that 
they can be distributed again to the same children. As 
to the disinfection of the pencils and pens, it does not 
seem necessary, except in the time of serious epidemics 
when contagious disease is known to have been in the 
school. In the same way the bo'oks that are furnished 
to the children by the public authorities should be 
carefully distributed to the same pupils each time, and 
in case any pupil is out on account of sickness, it is ad- 
visable not to permit that pupil's book to be used by 



jo SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

any other child. If the sickness proves to be a conta- 
gious disease, the bonk should be burned. 

Another subject that has received considerable atten- 
tion is the matter of oiling the floors with some form of 
patent "germicidal " or "dustless " oil. To this objec- 
tion has been made by the teachers and the girls, on 
account of the tendency to soil the dress. If the oil is 
put down in the proper way, so that there is not a suffi- 
cient amount to become gummy on the surface, the ten- 
dency to give off dirt is slight. The principal trouble 
with such floors is that the janitor does not take the 
pains to clean them as carefully or as often as he does 
the ordinary dusty floors. Consequently, the oily or 
gummy surface becomes laden with dust, and when 
swept by the girls' and teachers' dresses naturally gives 
up some of the dirt. If these floors are very gummy, it 
shows that they have not been properly oiled, and it is 
necessary to give them a scrubbing with gasolene in 
order to remove the gummy surface. From the sani- 
tary standpoint, too much cannot be said in favor of 
floors treated with some such oil. In many examina- 
tions of the bacteriological contents of the air of rooms 
that have these oiled floors, the results invariably show 
a smaller number of bacteria than do similar examina- 
tions made in rooms whose floors have not been so 
treated. The ease with which they are swept, and the 
absence of flying dust during the process of sweeping, 
are also important factors in their favor. 

These points concerning the care of a school building 
show very clearly the need of some systematic sanitary 
inspection. In thus speaking of sanitary inspection, 
it is not intended to include in the term any portion of 



SANITARY PROBLEMS OF THE SCHOOLHOUSE 71 

what is usually called medical inspection of schools. 
That will be treated in another chapter. Sanitary in- 
spection, as the term is used here, applies simply to 
the building. Every town and city should have at 
least one sanitary inspector of schools, who should visit 
every school before the fall opening, and see that it is 
put in the proper condition for the assemblage of the 
pupils. If it is not in what he considers a proper con- 
dition at the appointed day, school should be dismissed 
until such time as he pronounces the school building fit 
for use. In many states there is a more or less syste- 
matic inspection of this kind, but usually the inspection 
of any school does not take place until it is rumored 
abroad that the school in question is in an unsanitary 
condition, and usually this rumor does not start until 
the unsanitary conditions are extreme. But a regular 
sanitary inspection of all schools should take place at 
stated intervals, not less frequently than once a month, 
and the sanitary inspector should either have the power 
himself to close the building, if he considers it unsani- 
tary, or he should be responsible to some higher author- 
ity, such as the State Board of Health. His inspection 
should include the general cleanliness of the building 
and the school yard, the care of the basement and sani- 
taries, the operation of the heating and ventilating sys- 
tem, and he should watch very closely to see whether 
the janitor attends to all his duties. His visits to the 
school should not be made on an'y regular day or at any 
regular time. In this way he would see things as they 
actually exist, and not expressly polished in anticipation 
of his visit. 

In view of the unsanitary condition of many of our 



72 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

schools, particularly of the older ones, such a system of 
sanitary inspection cannot be too strongly urged. In 
many cities there have been introduced systems of dairy 
inspection by which the cow barns and the cows them- 
selves are carefully examined and strictly watched. Is 
it not peculiar that dairy barns and cows are of more 
sanitary importance to the public than our public schools 
and the pupils ? 

It is true that food comes from these dairies. But, 
on the other hand, we are sending our own children to 
be housed in buildings that often need inspection far 
more than many of these dairy barns. 



CHAPTER V 

SCHOOL FURNITURE 

Desks and seats are the most important articles of 
school furniture, and it is unfortunate that authorities 
on this subject are not agreed as to their best form. 

It is well to remember at the outset that no form 
of desk or seat will obviate the evils of long continu- 
ance in any one position. This leads to imperfect 
expansion of the lungs, relaxation of muscles, and a 
tendency to drooping shoulders, if not actually to a 
twist in the spinal column. 

There are various bad forms of desks. The desk 
may be too high, in which case, during writing, one 
shoulder is unduly raised in order to rest the arm on 
the desk, and a lateral twist of the spine results, which 
in time tends to become persistent. If the desk is 
too low, the scholar has to bend too far over his work. 
A forward stoop and round shoulders are produced, 
the head becomes congested from being held so low, 
and there is a strong tendency toward the development 
of near-sightedness. 

A flat desk is particularly bad, necessitating a cramped 
position and interference with free respiration. If the 
desk is too far from the seat, a forward stoop, with 
round shoulders, flat chest, and injury to the eyes are 
produced. 

73 



74 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

Seats, again, may be badly placed. If the seat is too 
high, the feet swing, the blood vessels and nerves at 
the back of the legs are compressed, and the sensation 
of " pins and needles " is produced. This is also apt 
to occur if, as is commonly the case, the seat is too 
narrow to support the whole length of the thigh. If 
too low, the thighs are bent up toward the body, and 
a cramped position is produced. If without a back- 
rest, or with an improperly adapted back-rest, the pupil 
tends to lean forward on the desk and thus to prevent 
free expansion of the lungs. 

According to Eulenberg, a distinguished German 
orthopaedic surgeon, 90 per cent of curvatures of spine 
not caused by actual bone disease are developed during 
school life. Bad postures during school work, and es- 
pecially the twisted position, with the left arm resting 
on the desk during writing lessons, contribute consid- 
erably to the production of such curvatures. The 
effects are much more likely to be produced if the 
desk and seat are not properly adapted to each other 
and to the size of the pupil. An upright position in 
writing is indispensable, and the left elbow should not 
be allowed to rest high up on the desk. Writing should 
be continued for only a few minutes in primary and in- 
termediate classes, and in higher classes not longer than 
half an hour without intermission. 

The cramped positions induced by defective desks 
and seats not only favor the production of a twisted 
spine, but also round shoulders and flat chest, thus 
impeding the functions of heart and lungs. The habit 
of leaning forward, close over the copy-book, may pro- 
duce shortsightedness ; and this in its turn increases 




ESCAPED 

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SCHOOL FURNITURE 75 

the necessity for the improper postures. Thus a vi- 
cious circle is entered, each evil mutually intensifying 
the other. 

Proper desks and seats should be accurately adapted 
to each other. The most important points to ascertain 
are: (i)the "distance," i.e., the distance between the 
edge of the seat and a perpendicular line dropped from 
the edge of the desk ; (2) the "difference," i.e., the dif- 
ference between the height of the seat and desk ; and (3) 
the slope of the desk. 

The distance should, for writing purposes, equal zero, 
— the plumb line from the desk grazing the edge of the 
seat, — or it should be a negative quantity. For other 
purposes the distance should equal zero or a small posi- 
tive quantity. This involves having a movable seat, 
unless chairs are used, which is inadvisable in boys' 
schools. Or, the same end may be attained by using a 
desk so constructed that it can be drawn horizontally 
backward, so as to enable the scholar to write while sit- 
ting erect, or resting his back against the back of the 
seat. When the scholar is too far away from the desk, 
he either bends forward into an unnatural position, or 
glides too far forward on his seat, and occupies an un- 
steady position. 

The difference between height of seat and desk should 
not be such that the shoulders are painfully screwed up 
in writing, nor, on the other hand, should the pupil be 
obliged to lean forward in order to write or read. It 
is recommended that it should equal the length of the 
forearm, or about one-sixth the height of the scholar 
(Robson). 

The slope of the desk should be capable of change, 



;6 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

the proper angle being about 30 for writing and 40 to 
45 for reading. 

The height of the seat should correspond to the length 
of the scholar's leg from the sole of the foot to the knee, 
in order that there may be no stretching of muscles. 
Its width should not be less than eight inches. 

There should be a back to the seat, which need not be 
more than a piece of wood three inches broad, slightly 
tilted back, and so placed as to support the back just be- 
low the shoulder blades. In this way the movements 
are not interfered with, while the spine receives steady 
support. Liebreich gives the rule that the top of the 
seat should be an inch lower than the edge of the desk 
for boys, and an inch higher than the same point for 
girls. Long desks are, as a rule, objectionable ; children 
tend to sit with the left arm high up on the desk, in 
order to prevent copying by their neighbors, and thus 
produce twisting of the spine. The same objection 
holds to a less extent against dual desks, but they pos- 
sess the advantage of not spreading out the children so 
much as single desks, and thus economize the teacher's 
voice. They also suffice for three, when listening to a 
lesson. 

It is a common fault to furnish a room with desks of 
only one size. There should be three sizes of desks 
in each large classroom, as there may be great diver- 
sity of height among children differing only two or 
three years in age. A foot-rest should always be pro- 
vided for children varying considerably from the usual 
stature. 

Adjustable desks are among the important improve- 
ments of school furniture. There are several-forms on 



SCHOOL FURNITURE 



77 



the market, and the main objection to all of them is the 
price, making it almost an impossibility to supply whole 
schoolrooms with them. From the hygienic standpoint, 
each child should have his desk adjusted to himself; 
but where this is impossible, it has been found of ad- 
vantage to have two rows of desks and seats, usually 
the outer ones, adjustable. Extreme cases can thus 
be accommodated. 




Fig. ii. — Adjustable Desk. 



Several different forms of adjustable desks are made. 
The best form provides not only for an adjustment of 
the height of seat and desk, but also for a change in the 
slope of the top of desk, to adapt to the different posi- 
tions required in reading, in writing, and in the new sys- 
tem of vertical writing (Fig. u). The sitting position 
in this last seems to have much to recommend it from 
the standpoint of hygiene, and if the good reports con- 



y8 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

tinue in regard to the results obtained from it, the favor 
of medical men and sanitarians is assured. 

The blackboard should be large. It should be so 
placed as to receive a good light, and its surface should 
be dull. The windows of the schoolroom should not be 
on the same wall as the blackboard, for in that case 
the children's eyes are dazzled in looking at the board. 

Natural slate is acknowledged to be the best material 
for school blackboards ; next in desirability are some 
of the artificial slatings or liquid blackboard prepara- 
tions. A serious fault with some of these preparations 
is that they are injured by the application of wet 
erasers. 

The school floor, while it may not be usually classed 
as a part of the school furniture, is of importance with 
reference to the healthfulness of the room. Floors that 
are full of cracks and otherwise rough are hard to keep 
clean. Rooms with such floors cannot be kept free 
from dust. These cracks, moreover, may become the 
breeding places of bacteria and disease germs, should 
the floors ever become damp. 

Cheaply constructed school floors are cold and cause 
the children much suffering during the winter months. 
Catarrhal troubles and other affections are among the 
results of permitting children to sit with cold feet. 
Wood floors at best tend to be noisy, and in several 
foreign countries methods have been devised to prevent 
this. The best floors for this purpose are those used in 
London, consisting of blocks of wood, with asphalted 
joints, placed on a bed of cement. In France and 
Germany a similar method is used, parquet sections or 
narrow boards of some hard wood are imbedded in a 



SCHOOL FURNITURE 79 

layer of asphalt. Such floors remain firm and free from 
cracks, are warm, and easily kept clean. They are also 
comparatively noiseless. It is claimed that they are 
not expensive, when the life of the floor is taken into 
account. 

In schools of considerable size, there should always 
be a hospital room, a place where sick pupils and 
teachers can find seclusion and some of the necessary 
comforts. This is best situated directly adjoining the 
principal's office. It should be provided with lounge 
or cot, lavatories and water-closet, a few common medi- 
cines necessary for emergencies, in fact, a regular emer- 
gency kit with absorbent cotton, bandages, lint, salves, 
and dressings, hamamelis, and anything that might 
come in use in case of accident or sudden sickness. 

This convenience is too often lacking in our large 
schools, and provision should be made by the architect 
for such a room. It might not be used often, but when 
the need comes, it is imperative to have something of 
this sort. 

The provision of baths in the public schools is a 
matter of great importance, not only in the city schools, 
but in the country schools as well. In the large cities 
many are the children that come to school in a con- 
dition unfit to associate with the other pupils ; and in 
the majority of such cases there is no opportunity in 
their homes for taking a good bath. Therefore there 
would be little good accomplished by sending these 
children home and not allowing them to return until 
they were in a fit condition. They should be provided 
with the opportunity to have baths, and, if necessary, 
at certain times there should be attendants to look 



80 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

after children that need the baths, particularly for the 
younger ones. The importance of a clean skin should 
be always emphasized before school children, and there 
is no better way to do this than to give them the best 
facilities to practice what is preached. 

Some parents are apt to look upon this innovation 
as to some extent interfering with their business, but 
in such instances the objection is usually due to igno- 
rance, and a little firmness and tact will overcome it. 

There are questions that arise as to the best outfit to 
provide for this purpose, whether the shower bath, the 
bath-tub, or the swimming tank. Probably the latter 
would receive the most commendation from the boys. 
It would be more expensive, however, than either of 
the others, and for the average school the shower bath 
with the bath-tub, or even the shower bath by itself, 
would answer most purposes. Schools should always 
be provided with places where the children can wash 
their hands after visiting the sanitaries. Such an 
opportunity should not be simply provided, but rather 
forced upon the pupils. It should not be necessary for 
the pupil to run out to the school pump or up a flight 
of stairs in order to do this. So that wash-stands and 
towels in the neighborhood of the sanitaries should be 
among the essential furnishings of the school. 

It is often the custom in school to supply the drink- 
ing water to the children in buckets. A bucket of 
water is placed in each room or hallway, and each 
bucket is provided with one or two drinking cups. 
Such a system is deplorable, and is undoubtedly the 
cause of spreading much disease. Any system that 
compels the pupil to dip the common cup or his indi- 



SCHOOL FURNITURE 



8l 



vidual cup into a bucket containing a general supply 
should never be permitted. A reservoir or tank with a 
faucet should be supplied wherever it is impossible to 
have running water, and in any case each child should 
have his individual cup. The expense of this reservoir 
should not be considered. Where there is no public 
water supply such a tank is the only method of dis- 




Fig. 12. — Sanitary Drinking Fountain. 

tributing the drinking water throughout the school 
buildinsc that has the sanction of sanitarians. 

Even where running water is provided, individual 
drinking cups must be supplied, if not by the school 
authorities by the children themselves. If for any rea- 
son the individual cup system is not feasible, the cups 
that are provided must stand under running water, 
that is, they must receive a continuous washing. The 
faucet should be open and running all the time during 
school hours. 



82 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

The best improvement that has developed along this 
line is the so-called " Sanitary Drinking Fountain," and 
by this arrangement all danger of spreading disease 
by the cup is removed. Such a fountain is shown in 
Fig. 12. As can be seen, there is a continuous stream 
or jet of water rising three or four inches, and the child 
simply stoops over and allows this jet to enter the 
mouth, as shown in the illustration. With this arrange- 
ment there is no chance for the water to be used over 
again, and thus no opportunity is afforded for the spread 
of contagious diseases. These fountains are in use in 
several schools and public places, and receive almost 
universal approval. 




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CHAPTER VI 

THE SCHOOLROOM 
ITS CHARACTER 

The modern schoolroom is a workshop, consequently 
its appointment should be convenient. It is a study, 
hence it should be pleasant and stocked with reference 
material. But it is also a living room for children ex- 
tremely sensitive to impression, therefore it should be 
as beautiful as a favored home. Of course a Wilton 
velvet carpet would be out of place beneath the restless 
feet of sixty children ; upholstered furniture would be 
absurd in a room hourly powdered with chalk-dust ; and 
lace curtains would be ridiculous with window gardens 
and a man janitor! But beauty is not dependent upon 
these things, it depends solely upon harmonious rela- 
tions of parts to each other and to the whole, and of the 
whole to its conditions and functions. Floors made of 
hard wood, that they may be cleanly and durable ; finish 
honest and substantial, to withstand the wear and tear 
of daily use ; furnishings simple and appropriate — these 
may be combined to produce a whole which looks invit- 
ing, neat and businesslike, yet refined and rich, a place 
of stimulating ideals. 

Such schoolrooms do not come by accident — they 
are carefully planned, and every effect is calculated. 
The work of the decorator begins as soon as the walls 

83 



84 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

are rough plastered. He must consider the wood suita- 
ble for finishing, the tints for walls and ceiling, the fur- 
niture, curtains, and all other accessories. Such matters 
should be intrusted to an architect, decorator, or other 
competent person — seldom a member of the school 
committee or of the building committee. 

FINISH 

Undoubtedly the best wood to be used for finish is 
quartered oak. It is durable, tough, and compact in 
texture, with a surface broken by the grain into pleasing 
varieties of color, yet of sufficient uniformity in hue to 
give a warm and rich general tone to the finish as a 
whole. Moreover, its color becomes deeper and more 
mellow with age. 

Ash is less expensive and almost as durable. The 
grain of the wood is coarser and its color contrasts are 
more marked, but the color is on the whole somewhat 
lighter than that of oak. On this account ash is a de- 
sirable wood for rooms where the illumination is not so 
strong as it should be, and for hallways, stair-cases, and 
coat rooms. 

North Carolina pine is perhaps the most satisfactory 
among the cheaper woods. When well seasoned the 
surface becomes extremely hard. Its color is especially 
cheerful and interesting. For portions of the building 
inadequately lighted this wood is even better than ash, 
but the grain is so prominent, with its erratic lines and 
strong contrasts of color, that it is likely to be obtrusive 
in a well-lighted room, unless the other furnishings are 
keyed up to the same pitch of brilliancy. 



THE SCHOOLROOM 85 

White wood varies so much in color, and changes so 
diversely when exposed to light, that were its texture 
sufficiently close and hard to withstand the exigencies 
of daily use, it would be a difficult wood to manage in 
any decorative scheme. When fresh the wood has a 
warm creamy tone, often tinged with green ; under 
strong light it may become in the course of a year or 
two almost as dark as antique oak or black walnut, with 
here and there a streak practically unchanged. It is 
evident that such changes in the wood might demand 
changes in the color of walls and furnishings, if close 
harmony is to be maintained. It is possible, of course, 
by carefully selecting the stock, to avoid sappy wood 
and thus reduce the developing of color contrasts to the 
minimum ; and if this is done, the ripened hues of 
curly whitewood finish rival those of quartered oak. 
Whitewood has been much used because of its readiness 
to absorb and hold various kinds of prepared stains, 
which give pleasing effects of color without obliterating 
the varieties of the grain of the wood, but for school- 
rooms the natural wood colors are usually preferable. 

Whatever the wood selected, the finish must be sim- 
ple. Deep channels in the moldings, or members in 
high relief, are to be avoided. The simpler and more 
refined the form, the better. The surface may be 
treated with a preparation of wax, or any other good 
filling, and shellacked, varnished, or oiled, according to 
circumstances ; but whatever the process, the result 
should be a smooth, hard, " dead finish," as the painters 
say, not a highly polished surface, reflecting the light 
like a glass bottle, but a surface rubbed down to a soft 
luster. 



86 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

Painted finish is to be recommended chiefly in the 
restoration of old schoolrooms. Paint will cover a mul- 
titude of scars. Moreover, it may be of any color, and 
on that account is more tractable than natural wood. A 
painted surface should have the dead finish already men- 
tioned, obtainable by the use of certain mediums well 
known to house painters, and should be free from brush 
marks or roughnesses of any sort. The best ground for 
a painted surface is undoubtedly extra quality soft pine, 
the cost of which plus the cost of painting is about equal 
to the cost of hard wood finish. Owing to the softness 
of pine, and the readiness of paint to show dents or 
scratches, the hard wood finish is preferable. 

WALLS AND CEILING 

The mason should leave a hard, smooth-finished sur- 
face for the decorator to enrich. Rough plaster is not 
best in a room so often filled with dust, and the final or 
skim-coat should be white. Tinted plaster or skim-coat- 
ing has not proved itself altogether successful. Given, 
then, the smooth, white walls and ceiling, their proper 
tinting is the next problem. 

First, one must consider the sort of light that the 
room receives. If the windows look toward the south, 
there will be direct sunlight during school hours ; if 
toward the north, the room will have little or no sun- 
shine ; if the outlook is eastward or westward, the sun 
will shine into the room morning or afternoon only. 
The room must be cheerful, but not too brilliant in 
color. A room into which only the cold north light 
comes needs to be colored in delicate tints of yellow and 



THE SCHOOLROOM 87 

orange-yellow to give an impression of warmth and light, 
while rooms having direct sunlight need the cooler and 
deeper tints of green, blue-green, and gray. As a rule, 
all the stronger tones of blue, and the intermediate hues 
to violet, are to be avoided ; they are either unpleasantly 
cold or aggressive and insistent. Red and all its imme- 
diate relatives should be excluded, because such colors 
are trying to the eye. Knowing, then, whether the 
scheme of the room should be warm or cool, as the ar- 
tists say, that is, whether the yellows or the greens are 
to furnish the prevailing colors, the precise hue and value 
of color for walls and for ceiling must be next determined. 

The key to this problem is to be found in the wood- 
work, the finish of the room. All harmonies of color 
are, according to Ruskin's classification, harmonies of 
analogy or harmonies of contrast, or, to state it another 
way, harmonies of colors which vary but slightly in hue, 
like yellow and orange, or of colors which differ widely 
in hue, as do yellow and blue, or red and green. 

The color of the walls should therefore harmonize 
with the woodwork either by analogy or by contrast. 
Suppose the finish to be of oak. An examination of 
the polished wood will show that the general color of 
the surface is made up of irregular spots and lines 
of various colors, dull yellow, dull orange and brown, 
with many varieties of these. 1 The colors which har- 
monize with these by analogy are tints of yellow and 
orange, in popular phrase, — "cream," "buff," "the wood 

1 With our present uncertain color nomenclature it is impossible to de- 
scribe colors accurately in popular terms. To one familiar with the Brad- 
ley system, the following would be more definite : oak colors are broken 
shades of OY, YO, O, RO ; their contrasts are in the BG, GB, and B scales. 



S8 



SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 






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colors," " tan," and ''light brown." Those which har- 
monize by contrast are the hues between blue and green, 

— the "green grays," "light olive," "tea," "light robin's 
^gg,'' and similar colors. 1 If the room is a comparatively 
dark room, finished in oak, the lighter colors of the 
grain will give the hue to the walls, and the lightest 
colors the hue for the ceiling, both of course lightened 

somewhat by the addition of 
white. If the room has a 
south exposure, the contrast- 
ing colors will be used, or if 
the analogous colors are pre- 
ferred, they will be dulled and 
darkened to counteract the 
effect of the excessive light. 
The conditions vary slightly 
if ash or North Carolina pine 
is used. The pine is in effect 
slightly warmer or redder 
than the oak, or yellower, ac- 
cording to the predominance 
of light or dark streaks in the 
grain. Ash is usually yellower than oak, hence its con- 
trasting colors average a little bluer. Perhaps a diagram 
will make this matter clearer. The letters, following the 
Bradley system, are the initials of the prismatic colors, 

— red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and violet. Their 
combination, as YO, means a yellow-orange, an orange 




' \>>^ / Contrast *'K' 



Fig. 13. — Color Diagram. 



v 



1 With our present uncertain color nomenclature it is impossible to de- 
scribe colors accurately in popular terms. To one familar with the Brad- 
ley system, the following would be more definite; oak colors are broken 
shades of OY, YO, O, RO ; their contrasts are in the BG, GB, and B scales. 



THE SCHOOLROOM 



8 9 



tinged with yellow ; O Y a yellow tinged with orange ; 
etc. Of course the colors of the woods are merely tints 
or shades of these colors, never the pure colors them- 
selves. Brilliant colors should be used sparingly, as, for 
example, in a narrow stripe along 
the edge of the ceiling or wall, or 
in a bit of still life upon the book- 
case or elsewhere. The tone of 
the walls in hallways may be 
rather strong and rich, but in 
schoolrooms it should not be so 
dark as to appear heavy, or so 
delicate as to soil easily. It 
should not be so gray as to ap- 
pear colorless, or so brilliant as 
to attract more attention than the 
pictures and casts for which it is 
to serve as a background. To give 
explicit directions for properly toning any room is impos- 
sible, but the following will not lead one far astray : — 

1. Determine the scheme of the room, — warm or 
cool in tone. 2. Select a tint for the ceiling (a). Let 
it be a very light tint of some color found in the finish, 
or of a contrasting color. 3. Make the wall (d) a middle 
value between the ceiling color (a) and the general tone 
of the finish (c). 4. If stripes are to be added for a 
frieze or border (d), they may repeat the color of the 
ceiling or of the woodwork or both, or may have a more 
brilliant color in harmony with the finish. 1 Strong con- 

1 Figured borders applied with stencils, if very simple and quiet in color, 
may be a pleasing feature, but, as a rule, it is safer to be content with the 
stripes. 




Fig. 14. — Tone Diagram. 



90 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

trasts are to be avoided. The blackboards and the ven- 
tilators are the unmanageable elements. The blackboard 
is a necessary part of the equipment in a public school, 
and the sensitive decorator can do no better than to 
ignore it. Fortunately, if slate is used, the general tone 
soon becomes softened to a neutral gray. The venti- 
lators should not be left black in color unless they come 
in a blackboard. If they come in the wall space above 
the blackboard, they should be toned by means of paint 
or bronzes to some harmonizing color. If painted the 
color of the wall, they soon become discolored by dust. 
Ventilators are of iron, and therefore some metallic 
finish is best, frankly different from the finish of both 
plaster and wood, and yet of a tone to harmonize with 
the color scheme of the room. 

Having determined the color for the walls, the medium 
and its application are important. The various water- 
color preparations are cheaper than oil color, but less 
durable. An oil paint properly applied will not peel off, 
or be discolored by water leaking through from the 
outside. If soiled, it can be washed ; and if occasion 
requires, the color can be matched perfectly. The walls 
and ceiling should have two or three coats, the last one 
to be stippled with a coarse brush to remove all gloss or 
shine and produce a dead finish. 

An ideal wall surface is such as that produced by 
cartridge paper. A close examination of that paper will 
reveal the fact that its peculiar hue is produced by the 
mingling of light reflected from minute particles of 
different colors. The effect is that of a granulated sur- 
face, without a hint of shine or glitter, having a soft 
rich bloom of color. Cartridge paper, however, or any 




PLATE XVI. — BY THE RIVERSIDE. 

{From a painting by Lc Rollc.) 



THE SCHOOLROOM 91 

other paper, is not sufficiently durable for use upon 
schoolroom walls. Paper is justifiable only in repairing 
or rejuvenating an old room merely for temporary use. 

WINDOW SHADES 

Inside blinds have many elements in their favor, 
though they often shut out too much light. They are 
clean, durable, of good color, or may be easily modified 
to harmonize with the room. They may be closed at 
the top to shut out a high sun and left open below, or 
closed below and opened above to give a good light 
upon objects used in drawing. 

Venetian blinds, so-called, have the advantage of 
being adjustable to screen out direct sunlight while ad- 
mitting a large amount of light, but, though requiring 
less room for operating than the ordinary blind, they 
necessitate coils of cord, which are often disorderly and 
unsightly in arrangement. 

The ordinary shades upon rollers are comparatively 
inexpensive, and if of the right color and thickness, are 
quite satisfactory, especially if hung within the window- 
jamb, and in pairs, that is, one at the top to draw 
downward, and one below to draw upward as occasion 
may require. These are the most easily managed and, 
all things considered, the most satisfactory if the win- 
dow-sills are to support window gardens. The material 
for such shades should be tested in the schoolroom with 
and without direct sunlight. .. A curtain which is quiet 
in color and in harmony with the decorative scheme of 
the room under ordinary light, may under full sunlight 
transmit such an intensity of color as to be unpleasant 
if not fatiguing or even injurious to the eye. 



92 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

OTHER PERMANENT FURNTSHINGS 

Theoretically, the furniture of a schoolroom should 
correspond with the finish. If the room is finished 
in oak, the desks and chairs should be of oak. If the 
finish is ash, the furniture may be of birch or any 
light-colored wood. The " cherry " furniture, sometimes 
offered for sale, is usually too highly colored to look 
well except in a room finished in highly colored wood 
and having walls of a contrasting color. 

Bookcases fall in best with the decorative scheme 
of the room when built in place against the wall as 
a part of the finish, but the wall space in a school- 
room is so valuable for other purposes that a revolving 
bookcase may be a necessity. There may be oppor- 
tunity for a book shelf somewhere, perhaps in a corner, 
and any good architect will be able to design an in- 
expensive one which will be an attractive feature of the 
room. 

Cabinets for reference material of various sorts are 
necessary, but may be consigned to the closet if room 
is limited. The ideal cabinet for photographs, mounted 
prints, and other pictures is that commonly known as 
a filing cabinet with drop suspension drawers. An 
illustrated catalogue of " labor-saving office devices" 
will suggest several space-economizing combinations for 
prints, specimens, and books well worth the attention 
of school architects and builders. 

The bulletin should be a prominent feature. It may 
be made of soft pine wood and covered with burlap or 
denim of a color to harmonize with the room. It may 
be placed between two doors or in a corner or wher- 




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THE SCHOOLROOM 93 

ever seems best. Unless it fits some space bounded 
by moldings, it should be framed, simply, to correspond 
with the woodwork of the room, and fastened securely 
flat against the wall. Upon this bulletin shall be posted 
all notices, clippings, sample sheets of writing, drawing, 
or painting. Rows of papers tacked to the upper mold- 
ing of the blackboard, or hung upon wires or strings 
stretched across the walls, or pinned at haphazard upon 
the door, are unsightly. The bulletin is the place for 
the display of school work. 



CHAPTER VII 

SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 

Many people have yet to learn that beauty does not 
depend upon complexity and prodigality, and that it has 
nothing whatever to do with the fashions. A popular 
journal published not long ago "The Interior of One 
Hundred Homes," the editor might have added "with 
furnishings enough for one thousand ! " Almost with- 
out exception the walls were mottled with pictures and 
cards and the floors cluttered with things. Savages 
and half-civilized people delight in multiplicity ; the 
more tattooing, the more earrings and nose rings, the 
greater the beauty ; South Sea paddle blades are incised 
all over with with monotonous ornament; Indian pago- 
das are heaps of heterogeneous forms. Perhaps one 
ought not to say that American parlors are barbaric ; 
they are at least composite, they contain collections, 
they are museums, — or would be if properly arranged 
and catalogued, — in many cases museums of moderate 
size simply because the purse is limited. 

Our schoolrooms are in dansrer of becoming "so full 
of a number of things " that there will be no room for 
beauty. Plate XIX shows a schoolroom which re- 
cently received first honors in a prize competition organ- 
ized by one of our enterprising monthlies. It contains 
pictures galore, pictures of all kinds and sizes, pictures 

94 




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PLATE XX. — A WELL DECORATED SCHOOLROOM. 



SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 95 

in frames and on easels, pictures singly and in borders, 
it contains casts and flowers, vases and dried grasses, 
flags and bric-a-brac. The room is burdened with a 
melange of decorative material, it is a new curiosity 
shop ! A drawing teacher, more nice than wise, used 
to say " bxiQ-h-bree" " She means bric-a-^bris," re- 
marked an artist who happened to hear ; " bric-a-debris 
fills a long-felt want in one's vocabulary." The word 
comes unbidden to the lips when such an interior as this 
presents itself for judgment. Contrast with it the inte- 
rior from a primary school in Springfield, Mass. (Plate 
XX.) Here are a few of the best photographs obtaina- 
ble, photographs of recognized masterpieces. They are 
large, appropriately framed, and hung with reference to 
the wall spaces. There is no crowding, no confusion, 
no clutter anywhere ; the blackboards are utilized with 
some thought of orderly spacing, the vases of flowers 
are tastefully arranged, and the effect of the room 
as a whole is clean, temperate, restful, wholesome. 
One cannot imagine haphazard, slovenly results com- 
ing from children accustomed to such an atmosphere of 
order and peace and beauty. 

Such schoolrooms are none too good for the most out- 
of-the-way corner in these United States. To produce 
them requires something besides a wish and a bag of 
gold ; it requires good taste and forethought. Given 
the finished room, the problem is what kind of decora- 
tive material shall be used and h'ow much. 

It is well to plan the decorations ideally, at first, 
without regard to expense. With unlimited means, 
what ought to be done to perfect the room ? The light 
comes from the left side only : then upon the wall in 



g6 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

front of the pupils and upon the rear wall we may have 
casts, and upon either of these walls, or upon the right 
side opposite the windows, we may hang pictures. We 
will put our very best things in front, where they will 
be seen by the pupils whenever their eyes are raised 
from the books. But we must consider the wall spaces. 
Here is a wide space — that means one large thing, or 
two or three small ones. Which is better ? Without 
doubt the one large picture or cast. Here is a narrow 
space between the door-frame and the corner — that is 
the place for a narrow picture or possibly a cast. Casts 
sometimes fit excellently well in very narrow spaces. 
Shall we place anything high over the door ? Probably 
not; no artist likes to see his pictures "skyed." On 
that bookcase is a good place for a pretty vase or two. 
The room ought to have, let us suppose, five large pic- 
tures (one very wide), one large cast, and two smaller 
ones, and three vases — two for ornament only and one 
for holding flowers upon the teacher's desk. 

What sort of pictures and casts and vases ? Ah, 
there's the rub! Shall we just please the children in 
the selection ? Shall we decide to have a " Greek 
room" or a " Roman room" or a "Venetian room," or 
shall we insist on using the flag in interior decoration 
and have an " American room " ? 

Firstly, the flag belongs on a flag staff outside the 
school building. The American flag, the most beau- 
tiful banner in the world though it be, has no place 
as a permanent wall decoration. It will spoil the deco- 
rative scheme of any schoolroom. Moreover, if we use 
the flag constantly, what shall we have in reserve for 
special occasions ? And if it is always before us, how 



SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 97 

shall we bring it forth with rejoicing and with special 
honors upon the red-letter days of the Nation's life ? 
Then, too, how incongruous to find Venus draped with 
the stars and stripes, or the flag above the Madonna ! 
It is well for our children to know that but one flag 
in the world ever floats above Old Glory ; it is well for 
them to remember that on Sunday mornings the flag of 
America takes second place and floats upon the still air 
beneath the flag of the Cross at the masthead of our 
battle ships, but it is not well for them to see in their 
schoolrooms the Mystery of the Ages draped with the 
flag of the United States. 

Secondly, we will not have " classified " rooms for the 
little children. Classification is nothing to them ; Greek 
and Roman and Renaissance are meaningless words. 
Children dwell in the realm of " unreflective immedi- 
acy"; they enjoy a picture for its own sake, not be- 
cause it is Spanish and forms a part of a system. 
They like a Bambino because it is "a cunning little 
baby in a funny dress," not because of its plastic quali- 
ties, or because the great Lucca della Robbia made it. 
In the upper grades we may begin some sort of classi- 
fication if we wish, and in the high school we will in- 
sist upon it. There the English literature room shall 
be appropriately decorated, the Greek room shall be 
Greek, and the Latin room Roman, and the great 
assembly hall shall be American. Some day those halls 
will be frescoed with the memorable scenes in our 
national history, drawn and painted by the boys and 
girls now being trained to patriotism as well as to 
power in our public schools. 

Thirdly, we will hold to our ideal plan, though we 

H 



98 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

have not the means to realize it all at once. We will 
buy the picture we want and hang it where it ought to 
hang; and when we can buy another, we will buy that 
and put it in its right place, and so on until the room is 
completed. 

" Oh, but we want to change the pictures about," 
somebody says ; " it is so monotonous to have always 
the same thing in the same place ! " But the children 
change from year to year, the room need not. If the 
room is once really beautiful, it ought not to be 
changed : " A thing of beauty is a joy forever /" Peo- 
ple change their parlor furnishings simply because the 
decorative effect is never quite right. Nobody wants 
to change the interior of the Spanish Chapel or of 
Cologne Cathedral. 

Knowing, then, in a general way what a given room 
requires, the attention may be given to individual ob- 
jects. Each picture, cast and object appears at its best 
under certain conditions ; each may become insignifi- 
cant under adverse conditions, therefore each may well 
be considered somewhat in detail. 

PICTURES 

Walls are decorated for the sole purpose of enhancing 
their beauty. It would seem unnecessary to add that 
whatever is placed upon them should be beautiful. 

The subject of a picture may be unimpeachable, but 
unless the picture is in itself a thing of beauty, it has no 
claim to a permanent place upon the schoolroom wall. 
Shall we eliminate historical pictures ? Yes, unless 
they are beautiful, like Turner's " Old Temeraire." 



SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 



99 



And how about portraits of authors and statesmen ? 
Those too must go, unless they are, like Stuart's " Wash- 
ington," masterpieces of art. All material useful to 
illustrate history, literature, nature study, and geog- 
raphy, or any other subject, shall be kept in portfolios 
or cabinets and used when required. We may have 
maps, charts, and decorations for special occasions hung 
upon the walls for a day or two. We will have per- 
manently upon the walls only such things as are perfectly 
adapted to the decorative scheme of the schoolroom. 

Kinds of Pictures. — Original masterpieces in color 
are too expensive for schoolroom walls. Originals which 
are less than masterpieces are not desirable. In Paris, 
a few schools possess original drawings or sketches by 
modern French masters. Possibly drawings by our 
American artists might be obtained for our schools if 
artists and teachers could work together sympatheti- 
cally. But for the present we must depend chiefly upon 
reproductions. 

Lithographs in black and white are usually undesirable 
because untruthful and inartistic. Chromolithographs 
are to be avoided, for the same reason. There are a 
few notable exceptions, such as the " Caravels of Colum- 
bus " by Prang, and occasional " masterpieces " by other 
high grade lithographers ; but as a rule the chromo is not 
for permanent display on the schoolroom wall. Fine 
engravings and etchings of sufficient size are generally 
too expensive for schools to secure except through the 
generosity of some wealthy patron. Photogravures of 
such quality as Elson's are excellent, but almost all the 
" process " reproductions are too cheap ; they look cheap 
and lack the artistic qualities of a good photograph. 



100 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

Solar prints are satisfactory only when details are unim- 
portant, as in the " Grand Hall of Karnak," or the 
"Mount Vernon," or the "Moses" (see frontispiece). 
But a fine photograph retains to an astonishing degree 
the qualities of the original, indeed, in some places the 
photograph is the more pleasing. Del Sarto's " Saint 
John," "Beatrice Cenci," and Richter's "Queen Louise" 
are examples of pictures which gain by photographic re- 
production — the print preserves their fine values with- 
out calling attention to their unfortunate color. On the 
other hand, where the coloring is of prime importance, 
of course photographic reproduction is inadequate. One 
who knows Paul Veronese and Titian and Turner only 
through black and white prints can have but the very 
faintest conception of their power. This emphasis of 
the photograph in wall decoration tends to make the 
room colorless ; but the lack of color upon the walls 
may be counterbalanced by color in bric-a-brac and in 
flowers. Besides, there are a few colored reproductions, 
in addition to the two or three good lithographs, not too 
expensive nor too crude for general use, namely, the 
higher grades of Japanese prints and colored photo- 
graphs. Colored photographs are often too highly 
colored, but occasionally, one will be found quite de- 
lightful in tone and very effective when properly 
framed; such, for example, as the large plate of the 
" Entrance to the Ducal Palace," imported from Italy, 
and the " Fusiyama " and the " Grand Avenue of Trees," 
imported from Japan. 

Subjects. — Pictures should be selected with reference 
to the grade of the room in which they are to be placed. 
Little children care nothing for Roman ruins and Greek 



SCHOOLROOM DECORATION ioi 

fragments ; the pictures they love are those which tell 
the story of happy animal and child life, of vigorous 
action, and of mother love. Classic landscapes and 
temples and statues of the gods belong in the ninth 
grade, if anywhere below the high school. 

The subjects selected in any grade should be such as 
one may contemplate with pleasure. Life is painful 
enough at first hand without reflecting its sorrows and 
sufferings from schoolroom walls. Thorwaldsen's " Lion 
of Lucerne " (Plate XVII, page 92) is admirable when 
seen by the traveler who visits the " Glacier Garden " 
once or twice in a lifetime ; but the dying agonies of 
even the king of beasts are not for children to gaze 
upon continually, nor are such subjects as the " Dying 
Gaul " or a " Saint Sebastian " or an " Ecce Homo." 
We do not wish our children to live with one of Barye's 
masterpieces of animal fury and agony, or with a bloody 
horror by Verestchagin, or with a " Last Judgment," 
even Michel Angelo's. We want them to live just as 
long as possible with the sunshine and the flowers, with 
the birds and the cherubs, with the saints and the 
Madonnas. 

The pictures selected should "carry," that is, they 
should be of such a character as to be effective and 
beautiful when seen at some distance. The photograph 
of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (which by the way 
should never be hung upon a wall), although fascinating 
when studied at short range, becomes, when seen from- a 
distance, a patchwork of confused grays. But a good 
photograph of the wondrous equestrian statue of Bar- 
tolommeo Colleoni retains its majesty and challenges the 
admiration of the observer at almost any distance. 



102 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

One should select, therefore, only artistic pictures, of 
appropriate subject and effective composition. 

The following is a suggestive list of pictures, classified 
according to grade : 1 — 



Kindergarten and Primary Grades 



Madonna of the Chair 

Holy Night .... 

Rest in Flight 

Children of the Shell . 

Mother and Child 

Baby Stuart 

Age of Innocence 

Feeding her Birds 

By the Riverside 

Little Rose .... 

Shepherdess Knitting . 

Caritas .... 

Member of the Humane Society 

The Connoisseurs 

The Blacksmith . 

Escaped Cow 

Milan Cathedral. 

Leaning Tower, Pisa. 



Raphael. 

Correggio. 

Knaus. 

Murillo. 

Brush. 

Van Dyck. 

Reynolds. 

Millet. 

Lerolle. 

Whistler. 

Millet. 

Thayer. 

Landseer. 

Landseer. 

Frere. j 

Dupre. 



Intermediate Grades 

Sistine Madonna, Detail 

Madonna and Child 

Virgin, Infant Jesus, and St. John 

Children of Charles I . 

Penelope Boothby 

Shepherdess 

Christmas Chimes 

Brother and Sister 

The Gleaners 



Raphael. 

Dagnan-Bouveret. 

Bourguereau. 

Van Dyck. 

Reynolds. 

Lerolle. 

Blashfield. 

Thayer. 

Millet. 



1 For more extended list of selected works see an appendix, 



SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 



103 



At the Watering Trough 

Automedon . 

Horse Fair . 

Aurora 

Kabyl .... 

Pilgrims going to Church 

Paysage 

St. Mark's. 

Notre Dame. 



Grammar Grades 



Virgin, Infant Jesus, and St 

Madonna of the Shop 

Joan of Arc . 

Queen Louise 

Sir Galahad 

The Haymaker 

The Sower . 

The Watercarrier 

Dance of the Nymphs 

Golden Stair 

Reading Homer . 

Portrait of Rubens 

Washington 

Capitol at Washington 

Doges 1 Palace. 

Amiens Cathredral. 

Westminster Abbey. 



John 



Dagnan-Bouveret. 

Regnault. 

Bonheur. 

Guido Reni. 

Shreyer. 

Boughton. 

Corot. 



Botticelli. 

Dagnan-Bouveret. 

Bastien Lepage. 

Richter. 

Watts. 

Adan. 

Millet. 

Millet. 

Corot. 

Burne-Jones. 

Alma-Tadema. 

Rubens. 

Stuart. 



High School Grades 



Sistine Madonna 






Raphael. 


Virgin Enthroned 






Thayer. 


Angels 


- 




Forli. 


St. Catherine 






Raphael. 


St. Michel and Satan . 






Guido Reni. 


St. Michel and Satan . 






Raphael. 


Frieze of the Prophets 






Sargent. 


Sibyls .... 






Michel Angelo 



104 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 



Circe 

Portrait of his Mother 
Elizabeth Bas 
Diana's Bath 
Approach to Venice . 
Ulysses deriding Polyphemus 
Vintage Festival . 
Appian Way 
Castle of St.. Angelo. 
Acropolis, Pyramid and Sphinx. 
Arch of Titus, Cologne Cathedral. 
Moses 



Burne-Jones. 

Whistler. 

Rembrandt. 

Corot. 

Turner. 

Turner. 

Alma-Tadema. 

Boulanger. 



Michel Angelo. 



Framing. — Just now fashion would have us believe 
that photographs, like oil paintings, should be framed 
without mats. But why ? There is no more reason for 
discarding mats than for using them. The fact is that 
some pictures require a mat and some do not. Hoff- 
mann's "Christ in the Temple" looks pinched and 
crowded by the frame without a mat, so also does Alma- 
Tadema's " Reading Homer" (Plate XVIII, page 93), 
but such a picture as Rembrandt's " Portrait of Him- 
self " or Murillo's " Children of the Shell " need no mat, 
they have room enough between figure and frame. 

The mat may either enhance or detract from the 
effectiveness of a picture. A dark picture with a light 
mat framed in dark wood is thrown into the shade by 
the mat. The mat gets the first word with every ob- 
server. A mat or a frame should surround the picture 
with "a space of silence," to use Ruskin's phrase. 
When the mat attracts attention first, when the frame 
leads people to exclaim " What an elegant frame ! " 
that which should be first has become last and the last 
first. 



SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 105 

A gloomy picture may be made less gloomy by fram- 
ing with a mat which by contrast heightens the effect 
of the little light in the picture, or a very light picture 
may be made richer in tone by contrast with a pale mat ; 
but as a rule the mat should be of a color analogous to 
the general hue of the picture and of a tone darker than 
the lights of the picture and lighter than the darks ; for 
if the mat be too light the high lights of the picture 
seem to lose their brilliancy, and if too dark the deep 
shades by contrast appear to have lost their depth. 
Upon a mat of middle tone both the strong lights and 
the darks hold their own in the scale of values. Some- 
times a single line, of the value of the darks of the 
picture, drawn upon the mat from a quarter to a half 
inch from the picture, so as to form a circumscribing 
rectangle, heightens the effect by softening the contrast 
between picture and mat. 

The width of the mat depends upon the character of 
the picture. The mat isolates the picture by " stopping 
out" its immediate environment. When viewing a 
picture from a distance, one is conscious of a wide area 
of surrounding objects; a wide "space of silence," a 
wide mat, is required in such cases to focus the atten- 
tion upon the picture. But a picture crowded with de- 
tail, a picture to be explored, to be studied at short 
range, requires less neutral ground around it. A 
narrower mat will be of sufficient width. 

The picture should be placed slightly above the center 
of the mat, that the margin above may be less than the 
margin below. One may reason as to why this should 
be without arriving at a satisfactory conclusion. We 
know that to satisfy the eye the upper part of an S and 



106 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

of a B must be slightly smaller than the lower part, and 
that the tongue of the E and the bar of the H must be 
above the center; and the fact is that a picture mounted 
with equal margins above and below appears to have 
dropped or sagged for some reason, and to be in danger 
of falling out of the frame. 

The frame proper is merely a continuation of the mat, 
and should, therefore, be unobtrusive. Its color should 
be analogous to that of the mat, but may be much 
darker in tone. Ordinarily all glittering surfaces and 
intricate or obtrusive ornament should be avoided. 
Flat moldings, which cast little or no shadow upon the 
picture, finished to show the natural grain of the wood, 
toned to the right hue and value to harmonize with the 
picture, and with a single line of delicate beading to 
give a ripple of light and dark for accent and to show 
that the picture is worthy of something more than a 
window sash for protection — such elements combine to 
produce a frame at once appropriate and durable, in 
good taste from either the aesthetic or utilitarian point of 
view. Plate XXI shows a half-tone of a well-framed pic- 
ture. Notice the relative values of the picture proper, 
the mat, and the frame, and the relative widths of mold- 
ing and mat. The molding may be wider than the mat 
or narrower, usually the latter, for equal widths of dis- 
similar surfaces are not pleasing. When no mat is used, 
the frame should be governed by the same considera- 
tions. Its functions are similar to those of the mat. 
A pleasing effect is sometimes obtained by mounting 
and framing in delicate hues which harmonize by con- 
trast with the hues of the picture, but the practice is 
not to be strongly recommended. 




Copyright, /Sgy, by Curtis &= Cameron. 

PLATE XXI. — A WELL FRAMED PICTURE, CARITAS. 
(From the painting by Abbott Thayer.) 



SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 



107 



Hanging. — Most pictures are at their best under a 
side or top light, but in a schoolroom they must often 
be hung directly opposite the light, or, worse, between 
two windows. A picture full of detail, or a picture 
with subtle gradations and delicate tones of light and 
shade, requires more light than one having large simple 
masses and strong contrasts ; hence, as a rule, such 
pictures as Corot's " Rainbow " should be placed in a 
well-lighted place, and "The Sower" of Millet, and 
other vigorous compositions, reserved for less favored 
spaces. Sometimes, however, a picture full of light 
will illume a dark corner so happily that one is inclined 
to doubt the wisdom of attempting to formulate rules. 
A picture with a marked effect of light from one side 
is often most effective when hung so that the actual 
illumination corresponds with the apparent illumina- 
tion ; that is, if the light in the picture is represented 
as falling from the left of the observer, the picture 
may well be hung upon a wall lighted from the left 
side. 

Whether pictures should be suspended from a single 
hook or from two hooks depends partly upon the evi- 
dent weight of the picture, and partly upon one's taste 
in such matters. If it be assumed that the picture 
should rightly be flat against the wall, and supported 
without visible means, then the nearer those conditions 
can be approximated the better. It is safe to say that 
the picture should be hung in" the simplest and most 
unobtrusive manner possible, and that it should not 
rest for support upon a shelf or molding beneath, 
except in extreme cases, where lack of space, or ex- 
traordinary weight, make proper spacing impossible. 



108 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

CASTS 

Casts are reproductions of sculpture :(i) "in the round" 
that is, of the entire figure, human or animal, or some 
detail of it, as a bust ; and (2) in relief, of which there are 
three varieties, — very low relief, called bas-relief, very 
high relief, called alto relief, and medium or mezzo relief. 
The tendency in America is to discard this classification 
and these terms, and to make but two classes, designat- 
ing them in plain English as low relief and high relief. 
The intaglio is a low relief reversed, that is, the depres- 
sions of the one answer to the elevations of surface in 
the other. Intaglios are seldom of large size, and there- 
fore not to be considered here. 

Qualities. — Casts are commonly made from "piece 
molds" — molds made in sections; hence upon a good 
fresh cast delicate lines are visible which mark the 
subdivisions of the mold. These are sometimes care- 
fully removed before the cast is considered perfect. In 
cheap casts they are always removed. If the sec- 
tions of the mold are not perfectly adjusted before be- 
ing filled with plaster, these lines reveal the fact ; hence 
in such cases they are immediately removed because of 
their tell-tale character, and the cast scoured down to a 
smooth surface. A moment's reflection will convince 
one that the subtle qualities of the original, the refined 
lines and delicate modeling, may be entirely lost during 
such a process of sandpapering. It is therefore the 
habit of connoisseurs to select the cast before the mold 
lines are removed. The safe course for a non-profes- 
sional who wishes casts of good quality is to secure them 
through reputable dealers only. 






Ik 



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PLATE XXII. —MADONNA AND CHILD. (DONATELLO.) A 
LOW RELIEF UNDER A FULL FRONT LIGHT. DETAIL 
LOST, CAST FLAT AND INEFFECTIVE. 





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PLATE XXIII.— THE SAME RELIEF UNDER A SIDE LIGHT. 
DETAIL MORE EVIDENT, BUT DARKS ACCENT TOO 
SHARPLY UNIMPORTANT PARTS. 



SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 109 

Fresh casts are bright white in color, a most trying 
tone for the eye, and awkward to manage in most deco- 
rative schemes. They should be toned to "ivory," or 
cream white, which approximates the mellow tone of 
old marble, but should not be stained yellow, as cheap 
casts often are. A good cast, properly toned and ap- 
propriately placed, is so effective a piece of decoration 
that in a room with framed pictures it may easily become 
the chief ornamental feature. Nothing is more charm- 
ing in a kindergarten or primary room than a Bambino 
upon the wall above the teacher's desk, with his hands 
spread out invitingly to the children. 

Casts in the Round. — The beauty of a cast depends 
so largely upon position and illumination that the beauty 
of even the best cast may be practically destroyed by 
carelessness in these matters. 

When " Rogers' groups " were in vogue they were 
usually placed upon a table or pedestal in a bay window, 
the worst imaginable place for a cast, so far as display- 
ing its beauty is concerned, but the best possible place 
for it to advertise the fact of its possession and display 
one's vanity to the public. The best place for a cast in 
the round is probably a niche in the wall, where the cast 
may be seen at the most effective angle, under the best 
light, and against a softly modulated background. The 
next best is against a well-toned wall, where the light 
falls from one side only, or near a corner where the 
light reflected from a wall relieves the intensity of shade 
upon the dark side of the cast. A cast should never be 
placed against a blackboard. If the cast is a statuette 
or a bust, it may stand upon a table, a bookcase, or upon 
a bracket of unobtrusive design ; but if of larger size, 



HO SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 



plan of base. 



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three feet high or more, it should be placed upon a 
pedestal of good proportions, refined line, and quiet color. 
A plaster pedestal with ornaments, plus a placard giving 
data, monopolize too much attention. A good pedestal 
may be made by any skilled carpenter from such a 

drawing as is shown in Fig. 15. 
The height of the pedestal, and 
therefore its proportions through- 
out, must be determined by the size 
of the cast and the position it should 
occupy. The " Ludovisi Mars " or 
the " Apollo Belvidere," for exam- 
ple, should be seen at about the level 
of the eye, the winged " Victory of 
Samothrace " is best slightly above, 
and the " Victory of Painios " very 
much above the level of the eye. 
The unobtrusive label, a gray card 
with lettering in black, may be added 
at a, or perhaps flat upon the top of 
the pedestal, where it attracts no at- 
tention whatever, but is always at 
hand to serve those who wish to be 
instructed. 

In Relief. — Under certain condi- 
tions a cast in the round or a very high relief may be 
hung opposite the light in a schoolroom, but a low re- 
lief should never be so hung. Plates XXII, XXIII, and 
XXIV show the same relief under three different illu- 
minations : first, full front light ; second, a side light at 
random ; third, a selected side light. There can be no 
question as to which is preferable. 




Fig. 15. — Pedestal. 




PLATE XXIV.— THE SAME RELIEF UNDER A SELECTED SIDE 
LIGHT. DETAIL CLEAR, LIGHT MASSED UPON THE 
IMPORTANT OBJECTS. 





PLATE XXV. — CASTS: LIOX, BY BARVE. INFANT ST. JOHN, 
BY DONATELLO. BAMBINO, BY DELLA ROBBIA. 



SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 



III 



A relief of small size may be stood upon a bookcase 
and tilted against the wall like an ornamental tile if the 
conditions of light and height allow it, but a larger cast 
should be hung, not by cords like a picture, but flat 
against the wall by means of hooks at the back. A 
cast has the appearance of weight, and, if hung like a 
picture, gives the impression of being about to pitch for- 




Fig. 16. — Frame for Cast 




ward into the room. Very heavy casts require the addi- 
tional support of a projecting molding or bracket. 

A cast of decorative outline, like a Bambino, looks well 
upon the wall without accessories of any sort (see Plate 
XXV), but certain other casts of more or less irregular 
outline seem to require something to relieve the appar- 
ently unfinished, unrelated aspect which they present 
from some points of view. Architects have used casts 
with most charming effect above a fireplace or mantle, 
by imbedding them in the wall so deeply that the sur- 



112 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

rounding surface, plain or molded, forms a frame. It is 
usually impracticable to use casts that way in the school- 
room, although there is no good reason why they should 
not be set into the walls when the building is in process ; 
but it is possible to hang a cast within a frame in such 
a manner that this impression of unrelatedness may be 
greatly reduced (Fig. 16). The frame should be perfectly 
plain, made of some wood to harmonize with the finish, 
or painted the proper color to mediate between the wall 
and the cast, or it may be made of rough plank, as indi- 
cated in the sketch, and covered with burlap of appropri- 
ate color, perhaps with the ordinary burlap. Some casts, 
however, would better not be framed singly. The Frieze 
of the Parthenon, for example, was originally intended 
to be lighted from below and seen from below, the sep- 
arate sections forming a continuous band of enriched 
surface high above the eye. A single fragment of this 
noble frieze is never quite satisfactory ; several sections 
side by side are needed to give the spirit of the original, 
and these should be placed as high as possible above the 
eye. A portion of the frieze is used effectually in the 
Medford High School Hall, Plate XXVI. On the other 
hand, each Metope of the Parthenon has a unity of its 
own, and was originally framed in marble, so to speak, 
and hence is perfectly adapted to the requirements of 
schoolroom wall decoration. 

Subjects. — Little children like casts of animals like 
Barye's " Walking Lion," and of children like Donatello's 
"St. John" (see Plate XXV), but often a relief strikes 
them as a curiosity, and all perception of its beauty is 
swallowed up of wonder. In the upper grades the fine 
qualities of reliefs are more likely to be appreciated. 





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113 



Moreover, in casts for public mixed schools the treat- 
ment of the subject should be considered with some 
regard to American ideals. We are not Greeks or 
Frenchmen. Artists make a nice distinction between 
the nude and the naked, a distinction all ought to make 
who have the selection of casts or pictures for schools. 
The following is a classified list of the best casts : — 



Kindergarten and Primary Grades 
In the Round 
Donatello. 



Infant St. John 
Singing Cherubs. 
Elephant Running 
Rabbit Reclining 



Bambino . 
Madonna and Child 



In Relief 



Intermediate Grades 

In the Round 
St. George ..... 
Youthful St. John . 
Lion Walking 



Panther Reclining 



In Relief 
Madonna and Child 
Choir Boys — with Book 



Flight of Time 



Grammar Grades 

/// the Round 
Young Augustus. 
Sphinx. British Museum. 
Victory of Samothrace. 

1 



Barye. 
Barye. 



Delia Robbia. 
Donatello. 



Donatello. 
Donatello. 
Barye. 
Barye. 



Michel Angelo. 
Delia Robbia. 
Hunt. 



114 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 



David Mercie. 

Washington Houdon. 

In Relief 

Chariot Race (starting). 

Triumph of Alexander. 

Choir Boys with Scroll .... Delia Robbia. 

Angels bearing Wreaths .... Ghilberti. 

Victory untying Sandals. 

High School Grades 

In the Round 
Hermes of Olympia. 
Apollo Belvidere. 
Venus Milo. 
Sophocles. 
Narcissus. 
Homer, of Naples. 
Zeus Atricoli. 

Lorenzo de 1 Medici ..... 
David 

In Relief 

Victory dedicating a Trophy. 

Bacchante (with arm above head). 

Apollo and the Muses. 

Angels with Musical Instruments . . Donatello. 

Sections of the Parthenon Frieze. 



Michel Angelo. 
Michel Angelo. 



OTHER BEAUTIFUL OBJECTS 
VASES 

Vases are of two sorts : those which are for use, and 
those which exist for their own sake only, like beauty. 
Vases of the first sort must be appropriate to their 
uses. Vases of the second sort have no excuse for 
being if they are not beautiful in form, or beautiful in 




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PLATE XXIX.— (i) TWO FLOWER VASES AND AN ORNAMEN- 
TAL JAR. (2) TWO FLOWER VASES AND A JAPANESE 
FIGURE. 

All inexpensive objects, each excellent in its place. 



SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 115 

color, or both. These are the vases par excellence. 
For a choice vase of this sort a Greek would give a 
score of slaves, a Roman barter an estate, and an Eng- 
lish nobleman pay five thousand pounds. To produce 
such a vase a Chinese potter would give his life. 

This is not the place to treat even suggestively what 
constitutes beauty in vase forms, but after observing 
for several years the character of the bric-a-brac often 
collected by well-meaning persons, one is tempted to 
define negatively the more obvious features of a beauti- 
ful vase. 

1. A vase with excrescences upon the surface, clay 
roses and the like, which break up the contour lines, is 
not good. 

2. A vase with naturalistic flowers painted upon the 
surface in brilliant colors and gold is to be avoided. 

3. A vase with a scalloped or waved lip is bad. 

4. A vase with a rough granulated surface which 
catches the dust, and reduces the surface to a dull 
lustreless finish is not desirable. 

5. A vase with ugly proportions and loose unrefined 
curves is bad. What constitutes good proportion and 
refined curvature may not be stated off hand, but one 
might say that equality in the measures of dissimilar 
parts is unpleasing (for example, length of neck and 
length of body, width of lip and width of body, width 
of body and width of base), and that as a rule circular 
and irregular or broken curves in the contour are not 
beautiful. For illustrations of beautiful vase forms, see 
Plates XXIX, XXX, and XXXI. Notice the subtle 
proportions, the temperate and refined curves, the ex* 
quisite play of light over the glowing surfaces. 



Il6 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

When purchasing vases for decorative purposes re- 
member that one beautiful thing is worth more than 
any number of commonplace things. It is the habit 
of some to buy one little bit of pottery because it is 
pretty and cheap, and another for the same reason, and 
another, because they cannot afford to purchase more 
expensive things. Presently the room becomes clut- 
tered, and the price paid for the bewildering collection 
is greater than the cost of some really beautiful treasure 
— some exquisite vase which is in itself almost enough 
to furnish an apartment with beauty. 

Professor Morse of Salem has said that a Japanese 
nobleman would never think of crowding his walls with 
pictures or his stands with vases ; that is pure osten- 
tation, as inartistic as it is vulgar. He has his collec- 
tion of treasures from which he selects a picture or a 
vase, according to his mood, and places it in the best 
possible light where his friends and himself can enjoy 
its beauty to the full. When another is to be enjoyed, 
the first is returned to its place in the cabinet. We 
have much to learn from the Japanese : not quantity, 
but quality should be the standard ; not how much clay 
and pigment for the money, but how much loveliness. 

If the first vase selected is tall and stately, let the 
next be of a different form and of some harmonizing 
color. If the vases are to be placed side by side, each 
should enhance by contrast the beauty of its compan- 
ion, like a handsome and noble man by the side of a 
queenly woman — " each the other adorning." Plates 
XXIX, XXX, and XXXI show several simple groups of 
vases arranged by Mr. Bunkio Matsuki of Tokio and 
Boston, who has done so much for art instruction in 




PLATE XXX. — THE SACRED LILY FITLY SET. 

The vase an object of use, primarily, but a thing of beauty because in perfect 
harmony with other objects in the group. 




PLATE XXXI. — AN OBJECT OF BEAUTY. 

One such object is more desirable as a piece of decorative furnishing than a 
dozen cheap, inartistic things. 



SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 117 

America through his active interest in our public schools. 
These groups will richly repay careful study : they are 
not the work of an amateur. The Japanese have prac- 
ticed the grouping of objects until they are as sensitive 
to balance of mass, contrast of hue, and harmony of 
color as we are to heat and cold. 

TILES 

Colored tiles are suitable for schoolroom decoration 
because of their beauty and durability, and especially 
because by means of them the color of the room may 
be enriched. 

An ancient Persian tile is quite as marvellously col- 
ored, in its way, as a rare Persian rug ; some of the 
tiles of the Moors are wonders of design and color, to 
say nothing of their purely technical qualities ; and an 
old Dutch tile is as quaint as the peasants of Maarken 
and as lovely as the sky over the North Sea. 

In recent years the art of tile-making has been re- 
vived in America with conspicuous success. Tiles of 
pretty pattern and of exquisite color may be had at 
reasonable prices from the stores of any first-class 
manufactory. Tiles group well with vases because 
while harmonizing in kind they vary in pattern and 
qualities of surface and contrast sharply in line. 

Plate XXXII shows half-tone reproductions of water- 
color drawings of groups, showing the effective use of 
tiles as decorative material. 

To describe a beautiful tile, that a novice may be 
guided in selecting, is even more difficult than to de- 
scribe a beautiful vase. About all that can be said 
is : — 



Il8 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

(i) Avoid, as a rule, all tiles with figures in high 
relief. 

(2) Reject those which attempt the naturalistic rep- 
resentation of flowers, butterflies, etc. 

(3) Do not purchase, even "at a bargain," tiles which 
are ugly in pattern or inharmonious in color. Such 
things cost too much even when acquired as gifts. 1 

(4) Do not purchase a number of small tiles ; put 
the money into one or two large beauties, which have 
sufficient dignity to stand alone, so to speak, without 
giving the impression of being pieces of something. 

VASES FOR FLOWERS 

Vases which are to serve as receptacles for flowers 
are primarily objects of use ; their office is subordinate, 
they no longer hold first place, hence they should have 
certain well-defined characteristics. 

1. A vase for flowers should be stable, able to stand 
securely upon its feet, and that without being ballasted 
with sand as in the days of our great-grandmothers. 

2. It should have a form which does not interfere 
with its use. Here are illustrations of forms adapted to 
various kinds and groups of flowers. 

3. It should have a color which will harmonize with 
the colors of flowers either by analogy or contrast. A 
clear glass or a delicately tinted glass is always safe, for 

1 A word might be added as to the acceptance of gifts for the school- 
room. The subject is a delicate one. Gifts of money are preferable, that 
with it persons of good taste in art matters may purchase right things. 
To forestall the necessity of accepting and hanging anything and every- 
thing, the school committee might make a rule that no work of art is to be 
accepted for schoolroom decoration without the approval of a committee 
of three competent persons, one a teacher. 





PLATE XXXII.- ILLUSTRATIONS OF THE EFFECTIVE USE OF 
A FIGURED TILE IN A DECORATIVE GROUP. 



SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 



119 



its color is modified by whatever is placed within it. As 
a rule, the brilliantly colored vases are to be avoided, for 
their colors vie with those of the flowers themselves. 
4. It ought not to be necessary to add that a flower 
vase should not itself be obtrusively decorated with 
flowers. It is not the province of art to rival nature. 
No flowers modeled in clay, no painted representation 
of a flower, though outlined with gold and set with jewels, 
can for a moment compete successfully with any flower 
of the fields. 




Fig. 17. — Vases for Flowers. 



FLOWERS 

Nothing, except a charming teacher, adds so much 
to the cheerfulness and beauty of a schoolroom as a few 
fresh flowers at the window or in a vase upon the teacher's 
desk. 

A window garden may be simply a tray to fit the win- 
dow stool and containing a group of potted plants, or it 
may be a water tight box filled with earth, — a veritable 
garden in miniature. In either case it will require con- 



120 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

stant care, of the sort which few if any janitors will or 
can bestow. " How do you manage to have such beau- 
tiful plants always in blossom ? " once asked a teacher of 
another; "my plants won't bloom." "I love mine so," 
was the reply, "that they can't help blooming for me." 
Love, no doubt, would be found to be in the final analy- 
sis the secret of the success of the window garden. 

An aquarium is not to be despised as a piece of deco- 
ration, especially for the lower grades. Its color is 
fresh and its life makes a living picture ever full of in- 
terest. 1 

Bouquets of flowers for the teacher's desk need not 
be the round-headed, Joseph's-coat-like clumps so popu- 
lar in the extremely rural districts. If masses of flowers 
are desired, let the flowers be of one kind, or at most of 
two contrasting kinds, arranged not in a compact head, 
but loosely, to show the characteristic lines of growth 
which are often quite as charming as the flowers them- 
selves. The rough sketches on page 119 will be sug- 
gestive. The vase as well as the flowers should be 
considered in any arrangement — the lines of one will 
supplement or complement the lines of the other, that 
both together may compose a mass, in which line, text- 
ure, and color will combine to produce a beautiful whole. 

Plates XXXIII to XXXVI inclusive are from photo- 
graphs taken by Professor Clarence Moores Weed of 
the New Hampshire College of Agriculture at Durham 
from flower arrangements of his own, will help establish 
ideals of good form. Such a book as " Japanese Flower 

1 For suggestions for making an aquarium see Teachers' Leaflets No. II, 
by Mary F. Rogers. Published April, 1898. College of Agriculture, Cor- 
nell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 




By permission of Clarence Moores Weed, Durham, N. H. 
PLATE XXXIII. — THE EFFECTIVE USE OF THE JARDINIERE. 




By permission of Clarence Moo res Weed, Durham, jY. H. 

PLATE XXXIV. — AN APPROPRIATE VASE FOR A SINGLE 
PLANT, TO DISPLAY BEAUTY OF FORM IN LEAF, 
STEM, AND BLOSSOM. 



SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 121 

Arrangement," by Josiah Conder, will show to what 
extent the science of arrangement may be carried, and 
will yield the thoughtful reader rich returns. 

But after all has been said, the fact remains that 
beauty will not come by prescriptions. A person of 
artistic temperament and training will produce an artistic 
room. Happy is that school board which has in its em- 
ploy a teacher whose presence creates beauty. She is 
more precious than rubies. Her ways are ways of 
pleasantness, and all her paths are peace. She is a tree 
of life to them that are under her instruction, and happy 
are they that retain her. 



CHAPTER VIII 

THE OLD COUNTRY SCHOOLROOM 

In out-of-the-way corners of the country and else- 
where .are still to be found the little old-fashioned 
schoolhouses of uncertain age, where the fathers and 
their fathers for many generations have fought the 
good fight and laid hold on education. Many of these 
weather-beaten structures are rather picturesque, with 
their much-climbed trees and worn-out yards. 1 But 
within, they are often forlorn and ugly. The young 
woman fresh from the Normal School, with her high 
ideals gathered from the model schoolrooms of her 
Alma Mater, looks at the begrimed and falling ceiling, 
at the dingy walls with their unsightly cracks, at the 
dusty rough blackboards, at the unwashed windows, the 
weather-stained and tattered curtains, at the battered 
and incised desks, the coarse floor with knots and nail- 
heads in high relief — what wonder that she longs to 
be promoted to a village school with modern furnish- 
ings ! 

But some of these ills can be cured, and therefore 
need not be long endured. Indeed, it is just possible 
that the room contains unsightly elements in the form 

1 For improving the yard, see suggestions in Bulletin No. 1 60, by L. H. 
Bailey. Published January, 1899. Cornell University Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station, Ithaca, N. Y. 

122 



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By permission of Clarence Moores Weed, Durham, N. H. 

PLATE XXXV. — VASES APPROPRIATE TO THE FLOWERS THEY 
HOLD, BOTH IN FORM AND COLOR. 




By permission of Clarence Moores Weed, Durham, N. H. 

PLATE XXXVI. — A WELL PLACED FLOWER. 

The vase echoes, reversed, the form of flower and seed pod, and contrasts 
strongly with the leaves, both in form and texture. 



THE OLD COUNTRY SCHOOLROOM 123 

of decorations, which may be eliminated at once. Are 
there advertising cards and cheap chromos pasted or 
tacked upon the wall, or bouquets of dried grasses and 
tissue paper flowers ? Are there old discolored maps, 
faded prints of educators and authors, examples of 
pupils' work, wilted and dust-covered ? 

The maps and the notables should be put into the 
closet for possible future reference, and all the rubbish 
should be burned. 

A scrubbing party may now be organized and the 
room cleaned thoroughly from ceiling to floor, then, if 
nothing more satisfactory can be done, any mason can 
be hired to whitewash the walls. But before resorting 
to so extreme a measure as pure whitewash, one may 
think a bit. A tinted kalsomine will cost but little if 
any more than whitewash. Consider the color of the 
woodwork. It may not be so bad, now that it has been 
cleansed, and if it is rather too bad after all, possibly 
the school committee man, now that he has discovered 
a teacher who means business, would be willing to have 
the woodwork painted a single coat, not much different 
in color from the old, perhaps, but sufficient to give the 
room a fresher look. A tint may be selected for the 
walls, similar to the color of the woodwork, but lighter, 
and by adding white to the wall tint, a more delicate 
tint for the ceiling may be produced. The old black- 
boards shall be kept as tidy as possible — surface clean, 
chalk trays swept — and the whole room shall be swept 
and dusted every day. 

The windows may be furnished as follows : procure 
for each window cambric of the right size and color to 
make a curtain three inches wider and three inches 



124 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 



longer than the opening, a thin flat strip of wood equal 
to the width of the curtain, a round stick of the same 
length, and a cord twice as long as the curtain. Find 
the middle of this cord and fasten it by a single tack 
to the middle of the lower edge of the window cap. 

Now tack one end of the 
curtain to the thin flat strip 
and the other end to the 
round rod ; and, folding the 
curtain over the flat stick 
to cover it, fasten the stick 
to the window cap, taking 
care to have one part of the 
cord fall behind the curtain 
and one part in front of it. 
The curtain may now be 
rolled up upon the round 
rod, and fastened at any 
desired height by tying the 
cords. One or two flower- 
ing plants, — geraniums are 
hardy and cheerful, — 
placed upon the window 
stool, and grouped prettily, 
will complete the transfor- 
mation. 
Upon the teacher's desk shall stand a clear glass 
tumbler or a simple vase of some sort, filled daily with 
fresh water. There shall be kept the daily offering of 
cut flowers. Not a collection of them, not a confused 
bunch of all colors, but a few of one kind only at a time, 
arranged to show their graceful forms and pure colors to 




Fig. 18. — An Attractive 
Window. 



THE OLD COUNTRY SCHOOLROOM 125 

the best advantage. The children will be glad to help 
furnish them, and at the close of the session to take 
them to their little friends who happen to be ill at home. 

A piece of denim, green gray, or some other soft color, 
stretched over a tablet of thin boards, may be fitted into 
some narrow space between the window and a door, or 
elsewhere, to serve as a bulletin board for the display of 
excellent work or reference material. Hereafter such 
things shall not be tacked along the top of the black- 
board, nor hung upon lines like washing. 

For wall pictures, one must have the best or none. 
The teacher may have a beautiful picture of her own, a 
photograph from some famous old master, that might be 
loaned to the school for a few clays. Movements might 
be started to secure by subscription or otherwise one or 
two beautiful things. During the five years prior to 
1897 works of art were procured for schools in more 
than seventy cities and towns in Massachusetts at a 
total cost of nearly twenty thousand dollars, and yet 
none of this money came from the public funds ; it was 
raised through the activity of teachers and others inter- 
ested in more beautiful schoolrooms, raised by subscrip- 
tion, by contributions, by means of entertainments given 
by school children. Where there's a will there's a way. 
It may be that in the town lives some rich person who 
will gladly give a fine photograph or a cast, and who 
needs but an invitation. 

But suppose such things cannot be had. An old 
picture frame may be found, scraped, rubbed down with 
oil or shellac, a glass fitted into it, and a back made, 
which may be removed easily. A full-page engraving 
from a magazine, a half-tone reproduction, a Japanese 



126 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

print, an unmounted photograph, — such pictures any- 
body can procure in these days, — these may be 
mounted on gray cards of uniform size to fit the frame, 
and each displayed for a day or two, or a week or more. 
In any event the teacher should decree that nothing 
but beautiful things shall be hung upon the walls. 
Better bare walls than debased and debasing art ; bet- 
ter nothing in the way of decoration than decoration 
which is worse than nothing. The following list may 
prove useful to the country teacher who wishes to be 
able to name one desirable work of art, and then an- 
other and another, as interest increases : — 

Caritas Abbott Thayer. 

Feeding Her Birds Millet. 

Madonna of the Chair .... Raphael. 

Lion (cast) Barye. 

A Cathedral, Notre Dame, Canterbury, or Amiens. , 

The Aurora Guido Reni. 

Paysage ....... Carot. 

Automedon Regnault. 

A Bambino (cast) Delia Robbia. 

Sir Galahad Watts. 

Old Temeraire Turner. 

Infant St. John (cast) .... Donatello. 

Make a bold beginning and believe in your ultimate 
success in securing what you want for the children. 

"As garment draws the garment's hem, 
Men their fortunes bring with them. 

By right or wrong 
Lands and goods go to the strong — 
Property will brutely draw 
Still to the proprietor ; 
Silver to silver creep and wind, 

And kind to kind.' , 



CHAPTER IX 

SCHOOL CHILDREN 

It cannot be too clearly understood that the function 
of education is to prepare the child for his life-work, and 
the true test of the value of an educational course lies 
in whether it fulfills this end. In order that this prepara- 
tion may be complete, the physical side of the child's 
nature must be embraced within its scope, as well as 
the mental and moral sides. By the physical side is 
not meant necessarily physical culture alone, but the 
general hygiene of the child, including the care of the 
body and the protection against various diseases com- 
mon to school children. From the time that a child 
enters the schoolhouse he is subject to its influence. 
If the school seats and desks are not right, he is likely 
to be afflicted with spinal curvature or some other de- 
formity. If the lighting is defective, his eyes are almost 
sure to suffer. If the building is in a noisy neighbor- 
hood, the result will be evident on his nerves. If the 
sanitary condition of the school is not good, he is subject 
to the dangers of some of the infectious diseases that 
come from unsanitary conditions. Furthermore, if a 
proper supervision is not kept of the children them- 
selves as to their cleanliness and freedom from disease, 
he is again subjected to the dangers common to school 
life. So that from the moment of the opening of the 

127 



128 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

school, the greatest care should be taken to have all of 
these factors which tend to exert an unhealthful influence 
upon the child reduced to a minimum. 

At conventions and teachers' meetings much time is 
spent discussing the sequence of studies, the proper age 
or grade in which arithmetic, or geography, or grammar, 
may be taught the child with best results ; and yet until 
within the last few years almost no attention has been 
given to the physical and sanitary side of school life. 
In regard to physical culture itself, in many towns 
gymnastics has been too much the fad, and much more 
attention has been given to physical culture than to all 
other departments of the school together. In a few 
instances, however, teachers have become interested in 
the sanitary welfare of the school, and have attempted 
to carry out much-needed reforms ; but as far as con- 
certed thought and action are concerned, little time has 
been devoted to the sanitary conditions of schools. The 
teachers have been allowed to shift about for themselves. 
Bad effects are the results of this, as are seen throughout 
the United States, in the proportion of bad eyes, curved 
spines, and otherwise crippled bodies which too often 
mark the public school pupil. However, there have 
been waves of reform spreading throughout the teach- 
ing fraternity, and it is only hoped that these waves will 
become tidal. 

To return to the child himself. It has been found in 
many instances that teachers have been misunderstand- 
ing some of their pupils, as they have perhaps thought 
a boy to be dull and stupid, while in reality he could not 
hear distinctly the questions put to him ; or perhaps he 
could not see the blackboard or the page of the book, on 



SCHOOL CHILDREN 1 29 

account of some trouble with his eyes. If such defects 
can be discovered and made known to the teacher, such 
pupils could be favored. For example, one that is 
slightly hard of hearing could be given a front seat, 
or one with defective eyes could be provided with 
glasses, or placed in a better light, or given a seat ena- 
bling him to see the blackboard. Thus it may be seen 
that the arrangement of the children in the room is a 
matter of vital importance, especially to those children 
who are suffering from defects of one or more of the 
senses. By favoring individual cases it is possible for 
the teacher to bring out pupils who up to that time had 
passed as stupid, and had been subject to ridicule by 
their classmates. Laughter from other pupils at sup- 
posed mistakes, which were mistakes only because of 
the inability of the child to understand the question, 
naturally would tend to make such a one withdraw 
within himself and become habitually silent. A little 
attention on the part of the teacher to such cases will 
often develop a remarkably bright pupil who otherwise 
would be allowed to remain in the same grade for sev- 
eral terms as incapable of advancement. 

It is not the intention to give the idea that all cases 
of stupidity or dullness are due to these causes, for it is 
only too well known that there are many boiia-ftde in- 
stances of weak minds among the pupils in our public 
schools. 

In regard to regulation of the school work, the teach- 
ers have their work usually planned for them. They 
are given a certain amount of ground to cover. They 
must use individual discretion, however, in working their 
pupils, taking care not to force the whole class in order 

K 



130 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

to make them keep up with one or two exceptionally 
bright children. It is far better to hold the quickest 
ones back, or perhaps put them in a higher grade, than 
to attempt to push beyond their capacity a whole class 
of average ability. Much injury can be done by this 
process of forcing, and care should be exercised on the 
part of the teacher to accommodate the work to the 
capabilities of the age, sex, and individual weaknesses 
of her flock. 

Most school children are quite incapable of looking 
after their own health. As a rule, they do not under- 
stand the importance of good ventilation, hygienic furni- 
ture, and cleanly habits ; so that everything must be 
done to save them from physical harm while in school. 
And yet, as seen in Chapter V, there are many diseases 
brought about in pupils owing to defective furniture. 
The seats and desks, if not the proper height from the 
floor and distance from each other, tend to bring about 
bodily deformities that cling throughout life. 

Physicians have made a special study of these school 
deformities, among the most common of which is curva- 
ture of the spine. 

SPINAL CURVATURE 

The fact appears to be clearly established that nearly 
all cases of spinal curvature can be directly traced to 
school life. It is almost never an inherited trouble. Of 
the 23,293 children born in a Paris maternity hospital, 
only one was affected with this deformity. Eulenberg 
cites some very interesting statistics as to the age at 
which lateral curvature of the spine originates, his re- 
searches covering a thousand cases. 



SCHOOL CHILDREN 



131 



Cases. 


Per cent 


5 


.50 


21 


2.IO 


9 


.90 


10 


1. 00 


33 


3-30 


216 


2I.6o 


564 


56.4O 


107 


10.70 


28 


2.80 


7 


70 



Before the second year . 
Between second and third years 
Between third and fourth years 
Between fourth and fifth years 
Between fifth and sixth years . 
Between sixth and seventh years 
Between seventh and tenth years 
Between tenth and fourteenth years 
Between fourteenth and twentieth years 
Between twentieth and thirtieth years 



This table shows that 95.8 per cent of this one thou- 
sand cases originated between the ages of four and 
twenty, and 92 per cent between the ages of five and 
fourteen. The sex of the child seems to have some in- 
fluence upon predisposing to this lateral curvature, for 
there are about four times as many cases occurring in 
females as in males. 

Posterior curvature or "round shoulders" is a spinal 
deformity brought about by the children remaining in 
faulty positions, such as stooping forward over a desk, 
or bending over their books, or by the use of an im- 
proper seat which causes the spinal column to sag 
between the two points of support. Aside from detract- 
ing much from the personal appearance, such deformity 
is unfortunate because it impedes respiration and other 
functions. To prevent these deformities so common in 
school, the following points may be noted : — 

First, the pupil should be furnished with a desk of 
proper height, but not so high that the right arm and 
shoulder must be raised in writing. Place the desk 
close enough to the pupil that he may not be compelled 
to lean forward in using it. The seat must be of the 



132 



SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 



proper height and shape, and the back rest must support 
the spine where this support is needed. 

Second, if the child is subjected to any duty for a pro- 
longed period, even if properly seated, there is danger of 
physical injury, therefore the teacher should allow fre- 
quent pauses to rest the eyes and the brain, and if possi- 
ble by active play enable the muscular system to rectify 
any tendency to deformity. 




Fig. 19. — Distorted Position caused by a High Desk. 

Third, the faulty slope of the characters in the child's 
copy-book, the faulty positions of the book itself, often 
lead the pupil to twist himself into vicious postures. In 
nearly all instances in which it has been possible to com- 
pare the positions of those pupils using the vertical sys- 
tem of writing and those using the sloping system, the 
best position is assumed by the vertical writer. 



SCHOOL CHILDREN 133 

Fourth, the child should never be kept standing long 
at a time. For when tired, he will assume a faulty posi- 
tion which may finally produce curvature of the spine. 

Chorea, or St. Vitus' dance, is a disease common to 
school children. Every teacher should be able to rec- 
ognize the jerky twitchings, the shuffling of feet, the 
contortions and twitching of eyelids, which characterize 
the disease. Children suffering from it require a pro- 
longed rest from school work, and the welfare of the 
school demands that severe cases shall be excluded. 

Hysteria assumes various forms and may occasionally 
simulate a simple faint or an epileptic fit. It is distin- 
guished from the former by the absence of the extreme 
pallor of the face and lips which characterize fainting ; 
and from the latter by the fact that the hysterical pa- 
tient is usually not completely unconscious, as is shown 
by the attempts to attract sympathy and attention and 
by the flinching which occurs when the white of the 
eye is touched with the point of the finger. The patient 
should be treated firmly, though kindly, and not allowed 
to attract too much attention. 

Defects of hearing are more or less common among 
school children, and often exist to a degree that inter- 
feres with the progress of the pupil, and yet this defect 
may not be suspected by parents, teachers, or by the 
pupils themselves. The cause of deafness in children 
in many cases may be traced back to a previous case 
of scarlet fever or measles, and a few cases are found 
where the ear had been severely boxed or pulled, thus 
causing the drum-head to be ruptured or strained, with 
consequent deafness. Some cases have been caused by 
cold water passing from the mouth up into the drum 



134 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

through the Eustachian tube, while the child was bath- 
ing. Diphtheria, whooping cough, and mumps also some- 
times affect the hearing of the child. An examination 
of 5902 school children by a celebrated Berlin aurist 
showed that 1392, or 23.6 per cent., had defective or dis- 
eased ears. While all of the deformities and diseases just 
mentioned are of the greatest importance, because of their 
universal prevalence, there is no group of disorders so 
vitally important as those diseases classed as contagious 
and infectious. 

CONTAGIOUS DISEASES 

Undoubtedly the public schools often serve as a 
medium for spreading communicable diseases. With- 
out a medical inspection of the school children, it is 
next to impossible to rid the public schools from very 
serious dangers. These diseases may arise in connec- 
tion with school life, through children suffering from 
the early symptoms of a disease, convalescing from a 
disease, or perhaps, healthy themselves, coming from 
homes in which there is a contagious disease. In the 
early stages measles, whooping cough, mumps, scarlet 
fever, and diphtheria often creep into the schoolroom, 
and, unless medical inspection is in vogue, it is essential 
in order to eliminate these cases that teachers and 
parents should be familiar with the early symptoms, in- 
dicating these various diseases, and know the length of 
time during which these diseases are communicable. 

Diphtheria is perhaps the most serious of the various 
school diseases. But modern bacteriology enables the 
physician to diagnose cases of this disease very accu- 
rately a very few hours after the patient is suspected. 



SCHOOL CHILDREN 135 

Furthermore, by means of the same bacteriological 
methods it is possible to determine when it is safe to 
return the child to school without danger to the other 
children. The presence of sore throat and feverishness 
in any pupil would always justify the teacher in sending 
the case home with a note. 

Small-pox is comparatively rare among school chil- 
dren. Chicken-pox, on the other hand, is quite common 
and is apt to appear without any warning other than 
slight feverishness. The rash comes out in twenty- 
four hours, and while at first nothing but pimples, they 
speedily become clear vesicles. In many ways chicken- 
pox is difficult for one not an expert to diagnose from 
modified small-pox. But the rash in small-pox seldom, 
if ever, appears on the scalp as it does in chicken-pox. 

Scarlet fever is a very important school disease. It 
is serious because of the after effects with which it is 
likely to leave the child. Any child at school who is 
sick and has a hot, dry skin, should be sent home im- 
mediately. If it is scarlet fever, within twenty-four 
hours a form of red rash appears on the chest, soon 
becoming a scarlet blush and spreading to the other 
parts. It often happens that the disease is so slight 
that the pupils may come to school throughout, and 
finally be discovered only by the occurrence of the 
characteristic peeling, or dropsy due to chill affecting 
the kidneys, which may occur after the mildest cases. 

Measles comes on with all the symptoms of a severe 
cold in the head with an unusual amount of fever. At 
the end of seventy-two hours, red blotchy spots appear 
on the face, hands, and other parts. The rapid spread- 
ing of this disease in schools is greatly aided by the 



136 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

fact that it is infectious three or four days before the 
eruption appears. 

Whooping cough, although oftentimes regarded as an 
insignificant disease, is not at all such. Every teacher 
should be familiar with the whoop and send home im- 
mediately any child who has it, or even if the child has 
a cough severe enough to produce nausea. 

Mumps is a disease serious enough to be excluded 
from the schools. It comes on with feverishness and 
pain near the ear, followed by an enlargement of the 
parotid salivary glands. Any child with a suspicion of 
it should be sent home. 

Tuberculosis has not usually been given much atten- 
tion in our public schools, and yet undoubtedly it is at 
this period of a person's life that the seed of the disease 
is sown. It has been quite satisfactorily shown that 
tubercular infection is caused in the majority of cases 
by breathing the tuberculous germs that come from the 
dried sputum that is being blown about in the air as 
dust. In schools of higher grades, consumptive pupils 
sit at their desks among other pupils, entirely uncon- 
scious of danger or wrong to others, and yet themselves 
are a source of infection to their fellow-pupils. If the 
sputum be properly disposed of, the presence of a con- 
sumptive is not dangerous. Only tuberculosis of the 
lungs should make the exclusion from school impera- 
tive. In order to have thorough protection against this 
disease, there should be strict rules forbidding scholars 
and teachers spitting upon the floors and insisting upon 
great care against raising dust in the schoolroom. Schol- 
ars with lung diseases should stay away from school, 
both in order to avoid endangering their schoolmates, 
and to hasten their own recovery. 




Suitable for middle grade room. 

Subject sugrsrestive : treatment ef- 
fective ; beautiful in composition of 
line. 



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luce nausea. 

nough to be exclud 
with feverish 

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uite satisfactorily show» 

jat come from the 
tha 

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cholars 
isting uj 
.mooi sbBis slbbim ■io'Wttoilj8>om. Schol- 
ia Jnam^a-rt • svhta^svs ajasfofwifrom school, 
lo norJrpoqmoo fir fiitriu^dh^i&eV < mates, 

.3nil 



SCHOOL CHILDREN 1 37 

In all of these contagious diseases a period of time 
elapses between the reception of the infection in the 
system and the beginning of those symptoms which 
characterize the disease. This is called the period of 
incubation. The following table will give the incuba- 
tion periods for the more common diseases, although 
the figures here given are subject to slight variations : — 

Diphtheria from two to seven days. 
Scarlet fever from two to five days. 
Measles about eight days. 
German measles from fourteen to twenty days. 
Small-pox from ten to twelve days. 
Chicken-pox from thirteen to fourteen days. 
Whooping cough about six days. 
Mumps from fourteen to twenty-one days. 

Another period of great importance in these diseases 
is the period of infectiousness. This is the length of 
time during which the child who has or has had an 
infectious disease should be considered dangerous to 
other children, and therefore should be excluded from 
school. In diphtheria, the child should not be read- 
mitted until the bacteriological cultures indicate the 
absence of the diphtheria bacilli from the throat of the 
patient. This time is usually not less than three or 
four weeks. For scarlet fever it is not less than six 
weeks, or longer than this if the desquamation is not 
complete ; for measles from two to four weeks ; for 
German measles not earlier than two weeks from the 
appearance of the rash. Small-pox is infectious until 
the last trace of crust has been cleared from the skin 
and hair. Chicken-pox is infectious until every scab 
has fallen off; mumps until four weeks from the begin- 



138 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

ning of the disease, if all swelling has disappeared ; 
whooping cough usually not less than eight weeks. 

Typhoid fever and malaria may arise from unsanitary 
conditions about the building, the water supply, or the 
drainage. While typhoid fever is not a contagious disease, 
it is caused by bacterial infection, and precaution should 
be taken to protect the water supply from pollution. 

The matter of disinfection in schools is quite impor- 
tant, particularly if there has been a school epidemic. 
The old-fashioned method of burning sulphur cannot be 
wholly depended upon, nor can formaldehyde gas ; these 
should be supplemented by scrubbing the infected room 
and furniture with some liquid disinfectant. As regards 
the disinfection of books, no reliable method has as yet 
been devised, and the safest way is undoubtedly to burn 
those books that have been used by the infected pupils. 

No other precaution against the various school dis- 
eases, particularly the contagious diseases, is as effec- 
tive as the medical inspection of teachers and pupils. 
Sanitary inspection has been mentioned in another chap- 
ter in connection with the school building and its sur- 
roundings, and that is very important. But its effects 
are not so quickly realized as in the case of the medical 
inspection. Many look upon these innovations as novel 
experiments, instituted by city boards of health for the 
purpose of giving physicians some pay and little work. 
They are not experiments, and no money expended by 
boards of health in their war against the spread of dis- 
ease is used to better advantage than that spent on 
medical inspection. While from the point of view of 
boards of health the principal function of medical in- 
spection is to discover cases of contagious disease and 



SCHOOL CHILDREN 1 39 

send them to their homes before they have done mis- 
chief, another important service is the discovery of 
defects of eyesight and hearing, deformed bodies that 
need attention, and other evils that are being started or 
exaggerated by the school life, which the physicians are 
able to detect and remedy. 

Medical inspection of school children has been prac- 
ticed in Boston since November 1, 1894, when it was 
inaugurated by the chairman of the Board of Health, 
Dr. S. H. Durgin. He describes the operation of the 
system in Boston as follows : — 

" The board of health divided the city into fifty districts, giving 
an average of about four schoolhouses and fourteen hundred pupils 
to each district. No difficulty was experienced in finding well- 
qualified and discreet physicians who would undertake the duties 
prescribed ; and the board selected and appointed one physician for 
each district, with a salary of $200 a year. His duty was to make a 
visit to each master's school daily, soon after the beginning of the 
morning session. The master receives from each of the teachers in 
his district early reports as to the appearance of illness in any pupil 
in his charge. These reports are given to the visiting physician, 
who at once examines the reported children, and makes a record of 
his diagnosis and action in books furnished by the board of health 
for this purpose, and kept in the custody of the master. If the visit- 
ing physician finds the child too ill, from any cause, to remain in 
school, he advises the teacher to send the child home for the obser- 
vation and care of its parents and family physician. If the illness is 
from a contagious disease, the child is ordered home, and the case 
reported to the board of health. The disposition of the sick child 
while at home and the proper isolation in cases where contagious 
diseases develop in such children, as well as giving them a warrant 
for returning to the school, depend principally upon the report of 
the school inspector.'" 1 

1 Paper read at annual meeting of the Massachusetts Medical Society, 
June 9, 1897, by Dr. Durgin. 



140 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

According to this system inspectors are not allowed 
to give professional advice or treatment in any case, 
with one exception, and great care is necessary to avoid 
giving offense to the family physician. This one excep- 
tion is in connection with pediculosis, which was found to 
be so prevalent throughout the schools, existing in one 
instance to the extent of nearly 80 per cent of scholars 
in one building. The board of health did recommend 
an economical wash or remedy for this trouble, but not 
without some friction on the part of families whose 
children had to be advised to use it. Obviously, medi- 
cal inspection requires the thoughtful cooperation of 
the teachers, and a generous amount of tact on the part 
of the inspectors. 

It cannot be expected that the teachers will be phy- 
sicians. But they are not required to do much expert 
work. It is a comparatively simple matter for the 
teacher to recognize an " ailing" pupil, and it is not a 
matter of much time to report the same to the principal 
or to the inspector, as the rules may require. 

That the system is very effective may be shown by 
the following figures : — 

For the fourteen months from November 1, 1894, to 
December 31, 1895, in Boston, 16,790 children were 
reported by the teachers and examined by the medical 
inspectors. Of these, 6035, about 36 per cent, were 
found to be not sick ; 10,737, the other 64 per cent, were 
ill. Of these, 2041, or 19 per cent, were sick enough to 
be sent home. About 22 per cent of these sick ones 
were sent home, or 2.7 per cent of the total number 
examined proved to be cases of infectious disease, 
specifically as follows : — 



SCHOOL CHILDREN 



141 



Diphtheria . 








• 77 


Scarlet fever 








. 28 


Measles 








. 116 


Chicken-pox 








. 28 


Mumps 








• 47 


Whooping cough 








• 33 


Pediculosis 








. 69 


Scabies 








• 47 


Congenital syphilis 








8 



453 

In 1895, 8964 scholars were examined; 11 56, over 
12 per cent, were sent home; and 23 per cent of those 
sent home, or 2.9 per cent of those examined, were 
cases of infectious disease. 

New York has also had successful experience with med- 
ical inspection. The board of health there started out 
with a few explanatory lectures to the inspectors, giving 
them an outline of the scope and purpose of the work. 

As outlined, the duty of each school inspector is to 
visit his round of schools at nine o'clock every morning 
during the session. Upon assembling in the morning 
every child who appears to be ill, or who presents him- 
self for the first time after being absent, is sent to a 
special room where he is inspected. If found attacked 
by an infectious or contagious disease, or not fully re- 
covered from one, the inspector sends him home with a 
note to that effect, and at the same time he is obliged 
to inform the board of health of the fact. In addition 
to the school inspectors, New York has a number of 
physicians whose duty it is to examine all applicants 
for teachers in the public schools. New York City 
appropriates $47,500 for the establishment of a special 
corp of medical inspectors. 



142 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

On June 7, 1898, the Philadelphia bureau of health 
passed the resolution that the medical inspector be 
directed to have the fifteen assistant medical inspec- 
tors visit one public school each day in their respec- 
tive districts, and inspect each school according to 
the methods employed in Boston, New York, and 
Chicago. 

St. Louis availed herself of an opportunity to study 
the system by having a volunteer inspection of ten of 
the public schools made under the auspices of the Medi- 
cal Society of City Hospital Alumni, from October 10 
to December 25, 1898. The inspections were made by 
members of this society. In that sixty days' trial nearly 
one-half of the dismissals were due to cases of acute in- 
fectious disease. 

In Boston, fifty inspectors are employed at a salary of 
$200 each. In New York, one hundred and forty-nine 
at $300. In New York, however, the corporate, private, 
and parochial schools are included in the inspection, and 
should be in order to make it a thorough preventive 
measure. 

In studying the reports on the result in various cities, — 
Boston, New York, Chicago, and St. Louis, — it is found 
that about one pupil in every ten has some ailment ; 
and that one-tenth, sometimes as high as one-third of 
those sick, should be sent home, either because they 
were too ill to be in school themselves, or because they 
endanger the health of others. From .3 to .7 per cent 
of these sent home have been suffering from some form 
of contagious disease. 

Out of the total morbidity in Boston schools, more 
than 4 per cent in 1895 were acute infectious diseases, 



SCHOOL CHILDREN 143 

nearly 3 per cent in 1896, and nearly 6 per cent in 1897. 
In New York, between March 29 and July 1, 1897, over 
10 per cent of those sent home were in this class ; that 
is, they were menacing other pupils. 

The experience in Chicago would indicate that if the 
inspection service is limited, what there is should be 
applied to old buildings, for in them the larger num- 
ber of ill pupils always have been found. Chicago 
adopted medical inspection about two years later than 
Boston, and the health commissioner says, in regard to 
its results there, that " he knows of no other single line 
of effort in which his scanty force of inspectors has en- 
gaged that has been of more obvious and direct benefit 
to the community in general, as well as to the school 
children themselves." 

The examples here given are all taken from the large 
cities, and the question naturally arises : Is such a sys- 
tem feasible in the small cities and in the towns ? 
There have been various expressions of opinion with 
regard to this. However, if we take one of the school 
districts in a large city like Boston, it may be compared 
with many smaller communities. One school district 
in Boston has four schools and fourteen hundred pupils. 
It. should not be a matter of great difficulty to secure a 
competent physician in such a community who would be 
only too glad to have the salary of $200 or thereabouts. 
It has been claimed that in the country districts the peo- 
ple are too conservative, that they would not see the 
good of such a system" to the community as a whole, 
that they would not see its value and necessity. But 
the general intelligence of the country people has grown 
and broadened in late years, to a great degree through 



144 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

the agency of the press and periodicals, and there should 
be few communities not ready to adopt a properly planned 
medical inspection. 

The necessary requisites for the successful establish- 
ment of the system are a board of health vested with 
authority, a competent inspector endowed with tact to 
handle teachers, parents, and children ; wide awake 
teachers who know enough of the principles of sanitary 
science to help and not hinder the work of the inspector ; 
and an intelligent public opinion to back up the work of 
the board of health and its agents. 

The medical inspection of school children, when prop- 
erly conducted, does away with the closing of schools in 
times of epidemics, and must be regarded as the most 
important measure for preventing disease and deformity, 
and for checking the spread of contagious diseases 
throughout school children. 

Medical inspection has also an educational side, for it 
serves as a lesson to the children and to their parents 
as regards what great care is necessary in handling con- 
tagious diseases. In a few instances parents have ob- 
jected to the inspection of their children at the school, 
claiming that it was interfering with their parental du- 
ties. But as a rule parents, teachers, school boards, 
and city governments unite in praising the system it- 
self, and expressing great gratification at the results 
obtained. 

Boston, after two and a half years of experience with 
it, reports that the plan is constantly growing in favor 
with the medical profession, among the school teachers, 
and in the community at large. 

In regard to the educational value of medical inspec- 



SCHOOL CHILDREN 145 

tion, Superintendent of Schools, W. B. Powell of Wash- 
ington, says : 1 — 

" The most important argument in favor of medical inspection of 
schools and school children is the educational benefit it would be 
to the community at large. Its direct and naturally aggressive ten- 
dency would be to make knowledge of the common laws of health 
universal, and to create an interest in the study of social life. 

"Intelligence respecting the effects of modes of living on length 
of life, on happiness of life, and on cost of living is very meager, es- 
pecially among the lower classes of society. The school has reason 
to know and to understand the disadvantages of this condition, eco- 
nomically and morally. Knowledge of these subjects would grow 
rapidly if the school would take hold of the matter purpositively, 
and would cause people to begin knowledge-getting in experience. 
Medical inspection would result in giving knowledge of conditions 
and causes, and would suggest changes in modes of living with rea- 
sons for the same. These would cause thought and would give in- 
formation to satisfy the same, which, with the purposive effect induced 
in the realization of suggestion, would educate in the most effectual 
way. This experience would create interest which in turn would in- 
sure further knowledge-seeking by means of reading, attending lec- 
tures, by inquiry, and in many cases by original investigation and 
experiment. Is it not the duty of the school to arouse society to in- 
telligent thought on the importance of better modes of life? By no 
other means can this be done so effectively. Is it not the duty 
of the school to train people to live better? Is not this the true pur- 
pose of the school ? The logical place to begin this is with the 
physical life of society, the one phase of life that has been the most 
ignored by our educational methods, because least thought about, 
and, until now, least understood. 1 ' 

1 Proceedings National Educational Association, 1898, p. 459. 
L 



CHAPTER X 

INFLUENCE OF SCHOOL LIFE UPON THE EYE 

In order to understand the influence of school life on 
eyesight, the following facts relating to the structure of 
the eye are important. 




Fig. 20. — Vertical Section of the Eyeball. 
1, Sclerotic; 2, choroid; 3, ciliary muscle ; 4, cornea; 5, iris; 6, aqueous hu- 
mor; 7, lens; 8, vitreous humor ; 9, retipa; 10, optic nerve. 

The eye is enveloped throughout the greater part of 
its circumference by a dense white coat (the sclerotic), 
the transparent and more convex cornea enveloping the 
smaller moiety in front. (Fig. 20.) Inside the sclerotic 
is a black vascular layer (the choroid), which serves to 

146 



INFLUENCE UPON THE EYE 



147 



absorb the excess of light, and within this is spread 
out the delicate mesh-work of the retina, which receives 
impressions of light and conveys them to the brain. 
The interior of the eyeball is occupied by a transparent 
gelatinous material in its posterior part, and a watery 
material in front, between which lies the delicate lens of 
the eye, which is capable of being altered in shape by 
the action of the minute ciliary muscle. (3, Fig. 20.) 




Fig. 21. — Diagram showing Effect of a Biconvex Lens on Rays 

of Light. 

i, Focus of parallel rays ; 2, focus of divergent rays ; 3, focus of divergent rays 
brought nearer by more convex lens. 



In the normal eye waves of light coming from a dis- 
tance are refracted by the passive lens and media of the 
eye, and brought to a focus at the most sensitive part 
of the retina, without any muscular effort. Thus, vision 
of distant objects represents rest for the eyes, and ex- 
ertion of its muscles comes into play only for near vision. 

The divergent waves of light from a near object are 
brought to a focus on the retina by the action of the 
ciliary muscle, which renders the lens more convex, and 
thus capable of refracting the light more powerfully. 



148 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

The effect of an increased convexity of lens in bringing 
divergent waves of light sooner to a focus is shown in 
Fig. 21. If for any distance under 20 feet the eye were 
not able thus to accommodate its condition, a blurred 
and incomplete image would be formed on the retina. 

A child with normal eyes ought to be able to read 
this page, in a good light at the distance of 40 inches, 
and at all intervening distances down to 4 inches. Any 
child who cannot read it as far as 15 inches off should 
have his eyes examined by a competent oculist. A 
rough test may be also made by means of the following 




Dy 



H L 



50 feet. 40 feet. 25 feet. 20 feet. 10 feet. 

Fig. 22. — Eye Test. 

letters : the Z should be distinguishable at a distance 
of 50 feet, D at a distance of 40 feet, Y at 25 feet, H at 
20 feet, and L at 10 feet. 

Three chief defects of vision occur in children : in the 
first, the waves of light are brought to a focus behind 
the retina (hypermetropia) ; in the second, the waves of 
light are brought to a focus in front of the retina (myo- 
pia) ; and in the third, the different axes of the eyes do 
not bring waves of light to a focus at the same point 
(astigmatism). 

Hypermetropia or Long-sight, in which the eye is 
shorter from back to front than usual, is really in a 



INFLUENCE UPON THE EYE 149 

moderate degree a normal condition in childhood, but if 
present in a high degree represents an arrest of devel- 
opment. Parallel rays of light {i.e., those from a dis- 
tance) are brought to a focus behind the retina. (Fig. 
23.) Thus, when the eye is at rest, there is not distinct 
vision even of distant objects for the long-sighted. The 
ciliary muscles must always act and accommodate the 
eye, and in moderate degrees they succeed in conceal- 
ing the condition. It is evident, however, that this con- 
stant strain on the muscles, during the waking hours, 




Fig. 23. — Section of Hypermetropic Eve. 
R, the origin of divergent rays of light ; F, the focus beyond the eyeball ; 
LL, convex glass to be worn by hypermetrope ; F', the focus of rays of light 
on retina, showing influence of L. 

must be injurious ; and during the use of the eye for 
near vision, as in reading or needlework, the strain on 
the ciliary muscle becomes still greater. Consequently, 
congestion and redness, with watering of the eyes, result. 
The lids tend to stick together in the morning, owing 
to increased secretion. If close work is insisted on, in 
severe cases dizziness and total inability to distinguish 
letters are produced, *and, in some cases, nausea, or 
even vomiting. The child is worse in the morning 
than in the evening, as his ciliary muscles have to ad- 
just themselves to the strain imposed on them. Mis- 



150 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

takes are frequently made, and the child is often thought 
to be idle. In this, as in other abnormal conditions of 
the eye, it is very common for the child to have been 
repeatedly punished by his teachers for supposed ob- 
stinacy or stupidity. 

Long-sight is often confused with short-sight, because, 
in the former, as in the latter, the child gradually holds 
his book nearer and nearer to his eyes. This is because 
spasm of the ciliary muscle (causing accommodation 
beyond the necessities of the case) is produced by the 
effort to see small objects at moderate distances, and 
because the large size of the image of the print obtained 
by holding the book nearer partially compensates for its 
imperfect definition. 

In the effort at accommodating long-sighted eyes for 
near and small objects, those external muscles of the 
eyeballs which turn them in towards the nose are 
brought into excessive action. A convergent squint 
may be thus produced, at first occasional, afterward 
becoming constant, and one eye being usually worse 
than the other. The squint is worse when the child is 
tired or ill, but any squint in a child four to seven years 
old should receive immediate attention. 

Myopia or Short-sight is the exact opposite of the last 
condition, the eye from front to back being too long, 
so that waves of light from a distance are brought 
to a focus in front of the retina. In order that they 
may be focussed on the retina, the affected child finds 
it necessary to hold objects near his eye, thus making 
the waves of light more divergent. 

Myopia is distinguished from hypermetropia by the 
fact that distant vision is improved by a concave lens, 



INFLUENCE UPON THE EYE 151 

and by the fact that the smallest type can be read easily, 
provided it be held closely to the eyes. The fact of a 
person seeing equally as well, at a distance, through a 
convex lens, as without, certainly indicates hyperme- 
tropia. 

Myopia is essentially due to the soft and yielding 
character of the tunic of some children's eyes, enabling 
the pressure of the muscles during accommodation to 
elongate the globe. The condition when started may 
remain stationary, but in some cases the continuance of 



Fig. 24. — Section of Myopic Eye. 

R, the origin of divergent waves of light ; F, the focus of these in front of retina ; 
LL, concave lens to be worn by myope ; F', focus of waves of light on retina, 
showing influence of L. 

the cause increases the elongation of the globe. This 
may be followed by stretching and atrophy of the cho- 
roid, or even detachment of the retina, and other evil 
consequences, resulting in partial or complete destruc- 
tion of vision. 

The tendency to short-sight is generally strongly 
hereditary, but it may be acquired, and it is chiefly dur- 
ing school life that this occurs. Jager, in 1861, first 
called attention to the remarkable development of myopia 
during school life. Dr. Cohn, of Breslau, in 1865 took 
up the subject. Having examined the eyes of 10,060 



152 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

children, he found 1072 myopic, 239 hypermetropic, 23 
astigmatic, and 396 whose vision was impaired from the 
effects of previous disease. As his testing was by lenses 
only, he probably underrated the myopia. In elemen- 
tary village schools he found 1.4 per cent of myopia; in 
town elementary schools, 6.J per cent ; in intermediate 
schools, 10.3 per cent; high schools, 19.7; and in gym- 
nasia, 26.2 per cent. Among medical students he found 
the proportion in the first year of study 52 per cent, 
in the last year 64 per cent. At Tubingen, Gartner 
found that of 600 theological students, 79 per cent were 
myopic. 

Although Germany has until lately had the greatest 
prevalence of defects of vision, it has by no means a 
monopoly of them. In all the cases investigated, the 
fact comes out that the youngest classes have the fewest 
myopics, and the oldest most. Drs. E. G. Loring and 
R. H. Derby, of New York, found that in the lowest 
classes 3.5 and in the highest 26.78 per cent were 
myopic. 

The statistics furnished by the Philadelphia Com- 
mittee, of which Dr. Risley was chairman, are peculiarly 
valuable, as a complete examination of the eye (barring 
the use of Atropine) was made in each case. Twenty- 
four hundred and twenty-two eyes were examined by 
the committee, and 174 afterward by Dr. Jackson, of 
West Chester, on the same plan, each case requiring 
on an average twenty-eight minutes' examination. 

The accompanying chart, from Mr. B. Carter's pam- 
phlet on " Eyesight in Schools," shows the result. (Fig. 
25.) The horizontal lines give the percentages, the 
vertical lines the different classes. The myopia was 




AURORA 

From painting by Guido Rem. 1575-1642 



Suitable for intermediate grades. 

Effective at almost any distance ; 
full of life and movement : Beautiful 
in composition and in drawing. 









• opic, • 






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the in: 




per cent oi 


town 


cent ; in in; 




ools, 19.7 ; an 


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INFLUENCE UPON THE EYE 



153 



found to increase from 4.27 per cent in primary classes 
(average age, 8J years) to 19.33 per cent in normal 
classes, while the hypermetropia diminished from 88. 1 1 
per cent to 66.84 P er cent, the proportion of normal 



Hypermetropia, 



Normal vision or 
Emmetropia, 7.10% 
Myopia, 4.27% 

Average Age 




H., 66. 



M., 19.33. 
E., 12.23. 



11.5 14 
Pri- Secon- Gram- 
mary dary. mar. 
School. 



17.5 
Nor- 
mal. 



Fig. 25. — Chart showing Prevalence of Near-Sight, Far-Sight, 
and Normal Vision at Different Ages. 

vision (emmetropia) remaining nearly stationary. It 
is evident, from the statistics just advanced, that school 
life has, under conditions which commonly prevail, a 
most deleterious influence on eyesight. 



154 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

Astigmatism is a condition of the eyes in which the 
curvature of the cornea is not uniform, and consequently 
waves of light passing through it in different meridians 
have a different focus. The lines running in a given 
direction look blurred — as all the horizontal or all the 
upright, etc. Children suffering from this condition 
often appear stupid or inattentive, because there is in 
this defect what has been aptly called "slow sight"; 
a word is not recognized quickly on first sight, but "it 
seems to come to them afterward." The defect is 
commonly ascribed to near-sightedness, but ordinary 
convex lenses will not remedy it ; lenses, the curve of 
which is specially adapted to each meridian of the eye, 
being required. 

The causes at work during school life which tend to 
produce defects of vision may be classed under the five 
following heads : — 

(i) The prolonged exertion of the eyes involved in 
seeing near objects. School work usually lasts from four 
to six hours, and the home lessons sometimes nearly as 
long. During a great part of this time, the accommodat- 
ing apparatus of the child's eyes is being strained ; the 
tissues of the eyes being soft and compressible, evil 
results are apt to occur, especially when there is a 
hereditary tendency to defects of vision. Three hours' 
good work is always better than five hours of indifferent 
work. 

The posture of the scholar is very important. He 
should not be allowed to lean forward with a bent head. 
In writing we have a good instance of the principles 
involved and the practice to be followed. The move- 
ments required are of a complicated character, and, like 



INFLUENCE UPON THE EYE 155 

the complicated movements concerned in speech and 
walking, should be automatically performed. In fact, 
the more automatic and the less conscious the move- 
ments become, the greater is the degree of precision 
attained. Hence, as in piano-playing, where the pupil 
is required to look at the music and not at the keys, the 
pupil who is writing should be required to sit erect, and 
directly facing the desk, and should fix his attention on 
the matter to be written, rather than on the move- 
ments of the fingers. The desk should be at a proper 
angle to the eyes, and the eyes should not be allowed 
to come nearer than 12 inches from the book or 
slate. 

(2) An inadequate amount of light, or an ill-directed 
light, causes an undue strain on the eyes. The amount 
of window area required, and the direction of the light 
admitted, have been already discussed. It is probable 
that the preparation of home lessons in semi-darkness 
is responsible for much injury to the eyes. 

Cohn, in his investigations, found that the narrower 
the street in which the school stood, the higher the 
opposite houses, and the lower the story in which les- 
sons were given, the greater the number of cases of 
myopia among elementary scholars. He proposed that 
30 square inches of glass (not including the window 
frames) should be allowed for every square foot of floor 
area. 

(3) Badly printed text and other books produce the 
same result. The type should be clear and large, Roman 
being much better than Gothic type. The construction 
of such letters as h and b, v and n should be especially 
precise. 



156 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

The following words represent well-known sizes of 
type : — 

Double Pica. Great Primer. Pica. 

No type smaller than Pica should 

Small Pica. Bourgeois. Minion. Pearl. Diamond. 

be USed While teaching children to read. 

Cohn proposes that the type of ordinary journals 
should be 4 millimeters or \ inch in height, though M. 
Javal thinks it may be allowed to be 2 millimeters. The 
thickness of down and up strokes, the spaces between 
letters and words and between lines, and the length of 
lines all require attention. 

Letter-press derived from a worn-out fount gives an 
imperfect impression of the letters. The loops of a and 
e, of b dp g are apt to form a black spot ; long letters 
become broken, and line up strokes are imperceptible. 

Books for children should not be too large and heavy, 
the spaces between the letters and between words and 
lines should be relatively wide, and the lines not too 
long. The reading or writing book should be placed at 
a distance of 12 to 15 inches from the eyes. The most 
agreeable tint of paper is a cream-color or a pale blue. 
It is inadvisable to gloss the sheets, as this produces a 
dazzling reflection. 

It is important that too small a handwriting should 
not be allowed, and that neither writing nor reading 
should be permitted in the dim light of evening. 

Pale ink and greasy slates are very trying to the eyes. 

The letters on many maps in schools are most trying 
to the eyes, the lettering not only being fine, but the 



INFLUENCE UPON THE EYE 



157 



maps having often been printed from old and worn 
plates. Maps should contain as few data as possible, 
teaching by wall-maps and outline maps being prefer- 
able. Glazed maps are not advisable. In writing les- 
sons the character of the writing material used is of 
some importance, especially on dull, winter days. Thus 
the furthest distance at which a specimen of slate pencil 
writing was recognizable, as compared with a specimen 
of lead pencil writing of the same size, was as 7 to 8, 
while the ratio of lead pencil to pen and ink legibility 
was 7 to 8, and of slate writing to pen and ink 3 to 4. 
The bearing of this on the hygiene of the eye is evi- 
dent ; pen and ink writing should be used where possi- 
ble. Also pale ink, or ink which turns black only after 
a time, should be abolished from school. 

(4) Needlezvork is a too frequent cause of defective 
vision in girls. Sewing is more trying to the eyes than 
any work that boys have to do. In ordinary coarse 
calico there are about 70 threads to an inch, and what 
is considered good work consists in taking up 4 threads, 
2 in front and 2 behind the cotton ; while in moderately 
fine linen, as a shirt-front, there are 120 threads to an 
inch, so that the seamstress has to work to g 1 ^ inch, a 
much smaller distance than the finest print. 

The sewing required of children should be neat and 
accurate, but not too fine, and sewing should not be 
prolonged, nor undertaken in a bad light. Where pos- 
sible, the light should come from above for needlework, 
as for drawing 'lessons, and such lessons should be 
avoided by gaslight. Needlework and drawing and 
writing lessons should always, preferably, be given dur- 
ing the brightest hours of the day. Lace work taxes 



158 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

the eyes severely and may lead to absolute loss of 
vision. Working at night on black dresses is most 
injurious. Scarlet materials are somewhat trying to 
the eyes, and are not allowed under the London School 
Board ; blue is to be preferred. 

(5) The condition of the general health produced by 
insufficient exercise or food, and the influence of a 
vitiated atmosphere, powerfully favor the production of 
defective vision. So, likewise, does the occurrence of 
catarrhal or other affections of the eye, as after measles, 
diphtheria, and scarlet fever. Home study for the chil- 
dren under the age of fourteen should be forbidden as 
far as possible. 

It is not always the school that is responsible for de- 
fects in children's eyes. Much reading at home under 
unfavorable conditions is a factor that must be taken 
into account. The child may become buried in a book, 
as the expression is, and not think of light, position, 
or of anything but what he is reading. Many eyes are 
unnecessarily strained in this way, and a careful 
watch by the parents is essential to guard against the 
injury. Often a boy or girl will curl up in front of an 
open fire to keep warm and read by the firelight. 



CHAPTER XI 

SCHOOL AUTHORITIES AND PATRONS 

It is the duty of all cities and towns to keep their 
schools in a sanitary condition. The schools are their 
property and are for the purpose of training the younger 
generations to become wise and efficient citizens. The 
governmental body should be so divided as to make it 
impossible for one department to shift the responsibility 
on to another. It should be so arranged that some one 
department be wholly responsible for the sanitary con- 
dition of the schools. At present it is impossible to 
obtain legal redress for injuries received during school 
life, or for deaths of school children caused by munici- 
pal or departmental neglect. If a city permits its 
streets to get out of repair sufficiently to endanger the 
lives of citizens using them, it makes itself liable for 
damages for injuries sustained. Not so with the schools. 
No matter how many epidemics start in or spread from 
them, nor how many children die from this great 
criminal negligence, there is no redress. But perhaps 
this is taking too dark a view of the whole matter, be- 
cause there are many examples of cities that are making 
strenuous efforts to bring about a more healthful state 
of affairs in their public schools. They are attempting 
to renovate old buildings, putting in new systems of 
heating and ventilating. They are establishing systems 
of sanitary and medical inspection. 

! 59 



l6o SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

They are attempting to make all of their new build- 
ings fulfill the requirements for the best sanitary condi- 
tions, and they take much pride in displaying these 
new buildings, and rightly so. For properly constructed 
schools are quite modern affairs. Any board of trus- 
tees, or any city government that has such, deserves to 
be highly praised. The age is passed, however, when 
fine schools may be looked upon as a luxury. They are 
a necessity. They cost money, but money put into 
good schools is well spent. It is false economy to 
withhold money needed to secure hygienic school build- 
ings. The red tape and wrangle often necessary to 
obtain even small amounts of money for schools and 
school improvements is shameful. To show how diffi- 
cult it is to get small appropriations for such purposes, 
it is well worth while to give attention to an extract 
from the proceedings of a school-board meeting in one 
of our large cities in 1898 : — 

Regarding improved heating, etc., in school district, the 

committee reported that the work, in view of the limited appropria- 
tions, should be deferred for the present. 

Dr. hoped that this would not be voted. He stated that 

in Street Schoolhouse, in that district, the sanitary condition 

is deplorable. The plumbing of one of the sinks, he went on to 
say. was disconnected last winter, and the pipe has remained open 
up to the present time. The closets are directly under one of the 
schoolrooms, and the foul odors come into the rooms. A teacher 
has been advised by her physician not to go there this fall on the 
beginning of the school, unless something is done to remedy this 

evil. Dr. asked that at least $25 be appropriated to connect 

that plumbing. A peppermint test, he said, has been made show- 
ing that sewer gases have free access to the basement where the 
children play. This condition he characterized as an outrage. 

Mr. stated that if the matter was left to the committee, it 



SCHOOL AUTHORITIES AND PATRONS l6l 

would do all possible to connect the plumbing. "We cannot do 
things without money,'" he said, " and we have to pick out those 
things that are absolutely necessary. We know that the plumbing 
in many of the schoolhouses is not what it should be. Bills left 
over from last year have to be paid, and we have only money enough 
to keep the schoolhouses wind and water tight. 11 

The report was accepted, and the recommendation 
that the work be deferred was adopted. 

This extract was used by Mrs. Ellen H. Richards in 
a paper before the American Public Health Association, 
in 1898, to illustrate this same point, viz., the deplorable 
fact that school boards are not allowed sufficient money 
properly to carry on school work. One of the greatest 
causes of this difficulty is the general lack of knowledge 
of the first principles of preventive medicine. One of 
the strongest proofs that we could wish to have of this 
was shown during the late war with Spain, where the 
soldiers, officers, and in many instances the medical men 
themselves, gave evidence of their great ignorance on 
such important matters. The result there we know was 
disastrous, if we measure it by the amount of sickness and 
death caused by preventable disease. As Mrs. Richards 
says, in the paper referred to above, " Why should 
the men on the transports have taken care to keep the 
decks clean when they have been accustomed all their 
lives to dirty schoolroom floors, dirty school yards, streets 
littered with rubbish," and "Why should our soldiers 
have believed that it made any difference what water 
they drank, when they had been accustomed to the 
conditions prevalent in nine-tenths of the school yards 
in this country." 

It is evident that school boards and city governments 



H 



1 62 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

hold exceedingly responsible positions relative to the 
schools, whether this responsibility be legal or not. 
The public schools are established by the various states 
in order to insure their own stability and prosperity, 
as President Garfield said in his inaugural address in 
March, 1881 : "We have no standard by which to meas- 
ure the disaster that may be brought upon us by igno- 
rance and vice in the citizen, when joined to corruption 
and fault in the suffrage. The veterans of the Union 
who make and unmake constitutions, and upon whose 
will hangs the destinies of our government, can trans- 
mit their supreme authority to no successors save the 
coming generations of veterans, who are the sole heirs 
of sovereign power. If that generation comes to its 
inheritance blinded by ignorance and corrupted by 
vice, the fall of the republic is certain and remediless." 
While the states insist on universal compulsory edu- 
cation, they should feel a certain responsibility about 
compelling any exposure of their proteges to unneces- 
sary danger of physical injury. This responsibility of 
the public authorities should begin before the school 
has been constructed at all. It is their duty to consult 
competent experts in regard to the location of the school 
site, the construction of the building, its heating and 
ventilating, and any other features that would tend to 
influence the health of the teachers and children. It 
not uncommonly happens that these public authorities 
make mistakes, and then they call upon some one, per- 
haps the State Board of Health, to remedy them ; 
whereas if this board had been consulted in the first 
place, it would have prevented such mistakes, and in 
the end would have saved the local authorities consider- 



SCHOOL AUTHORITIES AND PATRONS 163 

able expense. Their responsibility should also include 
the establishment of proper systems of sanitary and 
medical inspection ; the former to insure the proper 
care and condition of the buildings, and the latter the 
better health of the teachers and scholars. 

The discussion of the responsibility of the teachers 
from the sanitary standpoint is a very difficult matter. 
Most public school-teachers work very hard, many of 
them overwork, and when we come to consider their 
duties toward the sanitary conduct of their school build- 
ings or schoolrooms, we may be expecting them to do 
things which, had they the inclination, they have 
neither time nor opportunity to carry out. It cannot 
be expected that school-teachers are expert sanitarians 
or physicians, but we can expect something in the 
matters of ordinary cleanliness and neatness. They 
should have pride in the appearance of their rooms, 
and most of them do. Further than that, it is possible 
for them to inspire this interest and pride in the pupils, 
making them vie with one another as to personal clean- 
liness and the tidiness of their desks. If the younger 
children cannot understand the hygienic importance of 
good air, much sunlight, and proper temperature, they 
can be interested in these matters to a large degree by 
enthusiastic teachers. For example, the teacher can 
have even the young pupils learn to read the thermom- 
eter, and make a record on the blackboard or on paper 
at stated periods — perhaps once every half-hour. They 
could also be taught to watch for the sunlight ; count- 
ing the number of hours in the day or the week or the 
month in which the sun has shone during the school 
hours. Many other features of this kind can be arranged 



1 64 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

by the enthusiastic teachers, and without interfering 
materially with the regular class work. Little matters 
like these would in a short time spread their influence 
outside of the school and reach the homes of the pupils, 
which in many cases, particularly in the large cities, 
would be greatly benefited by even the smallest atten- 
tion to proper ventilation and admission of sunlight and 
habits of cleanliness. 

In regard to regular instruction in sanitary science, 
opinions differ as to the wisdom of introducing this — 
even when reduced to its lowest terms — into any but 
the higher grades of the public schools. Yet it would 
seem possible that by the proper arrangement, insti- 
gated by the State Board of Health or some other good 
authority, leaflets of instruction might be distributed to 
the teachers, differently arranged for different grades, 
in which some of the important facts regarding health 
and disease, the care of the body, its various organs, 
and so on, might be set forth. This would seem a 
very important matter, and one that deserves consid- 
erable attention in the near future, not only on the 
part of the teachers, but also of the school managers, 
because, as we have seen, so many of our public school 
pupils are launched into life without the simplest rudi- 
ments of the principles of preventive medicine. The ex- 
ample of our soldiers in the late war proves this only too 
plainly, and emphasizes the fact that there is a wide- 
spread need for instruction of some kind, wherever it 
may seem best to place it, in the school curriculum. 

In Brussels, all teachers receive thorough instruction 
in hygiene. They are supposed to supervise its prac- 
tice in the schools, the doctor only controlling and 



SCHOOL AUTHORITIES AND PATRONS 165 

directing them. They are required to record on a 
chart the temperature of each room four times a day, 
— at 8.30 and 11 a.m., and 2 and 3.30 p.m. This chart 
is hung up beside the thermometer, and at each in- 
spection the doctor is supposed to examine it. 

In the United States, Michigan has taken perhaps 
the most radical steps toward educating her children 
in sanitary matters by passing the following law: — 

Act No. 146. Michigan, Laws of 1895. 

An act to provide for teaching in the public schools the modes by 
which the dangerous communicable diseases are spread, and the 
best methods for the restriction and prevention of such diseases. 

Section i. The People of the State of Michigan enact, That 
there shall be taught in every year in every public school in Michi- 
gan the principal modes by which each of the dangerous communi- 
cable diseases is spread, and the best methods for the restriction 
and prevention of such disease. The State Board of Health shall 
annually send to the public school superintendents and teachers 
throughout this State, printed data and statements which shall 
enable them to comply with this act. School boards are hereby 
required to direct such superintendents and teachers to give oral 
and blackboard instruction, using the data and statements supplied 
by the State Board of Health. 

Section 2. Neglect or refusal on the part of any superintendent 
or teacher to comply with this law, shall be considered a sufficient 
cause for dismissal from the school by the school board. Any 
school board wilfully neglecting or refusing to comply with any of 
the provisions of this act, shall be subject to fine or forfeiture, the 
same as for the neglect of any other duty pertaining to their office. 
This act shall apply to all schools in this State, including schools in 
cities or villages whether incorporated under special charter or under 
the general laws. 

In compliance with this act, the State Board of 
Health has issued valuable printed matter from time to 



1 66 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

time, and during the last two years has been issuing 
Teacher's Sanitary Bulletins, and distributing them to 
every school-teacher in the state. Thus the teachers 
can inform themselves, in fact must inform themselves, 
as to how to instruct the children. The good effects 
of such careful dissemination of knowledge cannot but 
be felt throughout the state, in reduced death rates and 
the greater intelligence of the citizens. 

The interest of parents in the schools, particularly 
in their sanitary affairs, is too often lacking. Few par- 
ents know personally the teachers of their own children, 
except in smaller towns where the teacher is one of the 
social community. Fewer parents probably know the 
superintendent of schools unless they happen to meet 
him socially. This is a very important matter, for 
parents should make an effort, unless sickness or some 
other circumstance prevents, to become personally ac- 
quainted with the teachers and superintendent. This 
does not mean that the parents should keep nagging 
the teachers about petty troubles, nor that they should 
carry imagined faults in the conduct of the school to 
the superintendent ; but it does mean that they should 
confer with the teacher in regard to the strong or the 
weak points of their children. Thus, in many cases, 
they would help the teacher to understand the child. 
They should talk with the teacher regarding the health 
of the child, the strength or weakness of the eyes, the 
tendency to stand or sit in bad postures in the home, 
and ask the teacher to help to remedy these faults. 
Cooperation in these matters will be a great assistance 
to the teacher in conducting the school, and also bring 
about better results in the children. 



SCHOOL AUTHORITIES AND PATRONS 167 

It is well known that in many instances parents hold 
themselves aloof from teachers ; but in these modern 
times this seems wholly unreasonable. Their work is 
a noble one, and in many instances they are sacrificing 
their health for the good of the community, and doing 
so on small pay. There should be no barrier between 
the home and the school. In taking into account the 
education of the child as a whole, we must regard the 
school as simply completing and enforcing the educa- 
tional work of the home. That is, the school and the 
home are working together to educate the child. The 
parents of the better class of people can, through their 
children, lend a strong influence for the good of the 
schools, and also the well-conducted school can exert 
a powerful and good influence over the poorer class of 
parents by teaching the children cleanliness and mak- 
ing them neat in their habits. 

Thus civilization will gradually reach a higher plane, 
and future generations will become the beneficiaries of 
this instruction and of these reforms which mark the 
dawn of the twentieth century. 



CHAPTER XII 

BEAUTY IN SCHOOL WORK 

A healthful and beautiful schoolroom should lead 
to more beautiful results in school work, but sometimes, 
alas, it does not. Occasionally when visiting a well- 
furnished room, where results are slovenly and poor, one 
is reminded of Emerson's experience when ascending 
Monadnock : — 

" ' Happy, 1 I said, ' whose home is here ! 
Fair fortunes to the mountaineer ! 
Boon Nature to his poorest shed 
Has royal pleasure-grounds outspread! 
Intent, I searched the region round 
And in low hut the dweller found : 
Woe is me for my hopes 1 downfall! 
Is yonder squalid peasant all 
This proud nursery can breed 
In God's vicegerency and stead P 1 "' 

What boots our fine building and our rich furnishings 
if they make the children and children's work no better? 
If results do not improve under improved conditions, it 
is not the fault of the conditions ; some person is to 
be blamed, and usually that person is the teacher. A 
teacher who allows her children still to feed on husks, 
and to do the disgraceful work of the far country when 
they dwell in the midst of the house beautiful with 

1 68 




Suitable for lower grade room. 

Full :»f interest for children — ani- 
mal, bird, child life, cherubs ; beau- 
tiful in composition of dark and 
light. 



CI XII 

RK 

i should lead 

lit SOITK 



YJIMA^ YsiIOHe 



w ! 



*"" i> -pread! 

aid 

ir rich i 

If hs, it 

i is to 

icher. A 

, mW 9 ta a ffffil lrf 9 WMd on husks, 

^ °i»fui with 

.iris'' 



BEAUTY IN SCHOOL WORK 169 

bread enough and to spare, should himself be given his 
portion of goods and told to depart, unless he plead the 
one valid excuse, ignorance. But that excuse should be 
considered valid for thirty days only. Thirty days from 
date of discovery the lack of commensurate results 
should begin to be less evident ; sixty days from date 
results should be fair, and in ninety days good. All 
the ambitious teacher needs — the teacher ambitious 
to serve her pupils — is the suggestion that beauty is to 
count in school work, side by side with accuracy. " I 
try for correct spelling and accurate number work, for 
good position in writing and close observation in draw- 
ing. If I get accuracy," says the conscientious teacher, 
"that is all I ask." "If you get simple beauty and 
naught else," says Browning, "you get about the best 
thing God invents," and if that is true, — and who 
doubts it? — we must not be satisfied with mere formal 
accuracy : our work must conform to the aesthetic ideals 
of the architect and the artist of our schoolroom as well 
as to the mechanical ideals of the plumber and the 
carpenter. 

The first lesson the beautified room should teach is 

ADAPTATION, 

the nice adjustment of a thing to its environment, or to 
its place or function. 

A perception of that principle will lead to many re- 
forms in schoolroom practice. Pen and ink will not be 
used upon rough paper; nor will the pencil be used 
upon glazed paper. Drawings a foot square will not be 
attempted in lead pencil, neither will charcoal be used 
on a sheet 6x9. When the nature lesson has been on 



lyo SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

leaf structure, the pupils will not attempt to express 
that with the brush and ink. When it has been upon the 
growth of the grapevine and its fruit, they will not be 
asked to draw it in lead pencil. If threads and dots of 
color, as in the sedge, are to be expressed, colored 
pencils will be used. If broad masses of color with 
subtle gradations, as in the morning glory, are to be 
expressed, water color will be the medium. For withered 
leaves and seed pods in mass, for broad silhouettes to 
reveal forms as wholes, the brush and ink is the best 
medium. In the careful, searching study of plant growth, 
in studies of structure and function, the medium of ex- 
pression is the pencil or the pen. The ink drawing 
shall be upon gray paper ; the delicate water-color, 
upon white; crayons, usually a little crude and harsh 
in color, shall be used upon cream-colored paper to 
soften them. 

All arithmetic and language papers will not be the 
same size, regardless of the amount of work to be 
placed upon them, merely that they may be bound with 
a brass fastener and displayed as a class exercise. They 
will vary in size according to the lesson. The long 
column of primary number work shall have its long nar- 
row paper, and the spelling lesson shall be written on a 
paper to fit (Plate XXXVII), just as the pictures upon 
the walls fit their frames. A large sheet and blackboard 
crayon are appropriate to the rendering of a pumpkin, 
but a small sheet and a camel's hair brush to the render- 
ing of a downy butterfly. A winter landscape may be 
suggested in ink, but for autumn foliage there must be 
color. In geometric diagrams, where accuracy is impor- 
tant, the straight lines shall be ruled, and the compasses 



BEAUTY IN SCHOOL WORK 171 

shall be used for circles. In the sketching of maps, 
where relative positions only are important, the lines 
shall be free hand. Drawing shall not be upon paper 
with ruled lines, even when it is to illustrate a written 
page, nor shall writing be upon unruled paper so long 
as the child needs the line. 

"The classical form of art," says Hegel, "is the free 
and adequate embodiment of the Idea in the shape 
that is peculiarly appropriate to the Idea itself," a state- 
ment which is at once so comprehensive and so discrimi- 
nating that by means of it we may test any work of art 
from a first-grade spelling paper to John Sargent's 
"Triumph of Religion" or the Parthenon Frieze. 

The second lesson that the beautiful things in a 
schoolroom should teach is 

ARRANGEMENT, 

the disposition of parts in harmonious or suitable form. 

A work of art is planned; it is never a "fortuitous 
combination of atoms." Throughout there is that nice 
adjustment of part to part which produces a beautiful 
whole. This should be emphasized by means of supple- 
mentary material, such as Japanese prints, pages from 
the best magazines, artistic circulars and posters, ex- 
amples of pupils' work, which are illustrations of good 
arrangement. Under the inspiration of masterly exam- 
ples, the thoughtful study of arrangement should begin 
in the primary grades and continue until the habit of 
planning any work with regard to its ultimate appear- 
ance is established. 

There are three rules of arrangement which every 
pupil should know : — 



172 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

I. A Sheet should have a Proper Margin. — Pictures 
look best when framed ; the full-page frontispiece in 
the magazine has a broad margin, this printed page 
has a clear unoccupied space all around the text, space 
which might be used to the financial advantage of the 
publisher, if the great public with its ideals of conven- 
ience and beauty would not object. But the public 
would object. It would not buy a book it could not 
hold open to read without moving its thumbs about ! 
It allows narrow margins in Bibles because a limp- 
covered Bible stays open of itself, but in other books 
a broad margin is a convenience, not only in holding 
the book, but for the making of marginal notes, and be- 
cause it aids the eye by isolating the text. Moreover, 
it adds greatly to the beauty of the page. The same 
considerations should have weight in school work. No 
paper should be crowded from edge to edge with figures 
or text or sketches. It is customary in school exercises 
to write on all the ruled lines of a sheet ; but why ? 
Why so much margin at the top and none below or at 
the sides ? Sometimes sheets have a strong red line an 
inch or two from the left edge ; in such cases the text 
usually begins at that line and spills off the right-hand 
edge, or stops timidly short of it, or huddles together at 
the brink of it. The margin, at left and right should be 
alike, that at the top about the same, and the lower 
margin somewhat wider, as upon this page. In the 
case of a " chapter heading," with title or sketch or 
ornamental initial of especial weight, the upper margin 
may be the wider. If a map or a picture fills the entire 
sheet, the sheet should be mounted upon another of 
larger size, and, if possible, of a slightly different color, 



BEAUTY IN SCHOOL WORK 173 

so that the sheet may have its proper margin and be 
seen to good advantage. 

2. A Sheet should have an Orderly Plan. — A good pic- 
ture or cast yields its subject to the first glance of inquiry. 
It is a Madonna or a knight, a shepherdess or a gleaner ; 
it is a landscape, or a sea piece, or a bit of still life ; after 
even a hasty glance no one could have any doubt as to 
the broad intention of the artist. 

The same should be true of school papers. One 
ought not to find " Sadie King" in bold chirography 
at the top of a language paper when the subject of 
the paper is "Sir Joshua Reynolds." Letters written 
by primary children ought not to begin : — 

Elizabeth Brown, aged 6. 
Hatherly School, Grade I. 
My Dear Papa : My teacher — 

We do not start our private correspondence just that 
way, and a paper so started does not explain itself at 
sight. 

A nature paper ought not to give the impression of 
being a drawing lesson, nor a drawing paper that of 
being the result of a lesson in language or paper cut- 
ting. A history lesson should not result in a paper 
doll in costume, nor a geography lesson in a chart 
covered with bottles, peanut shells, and scrap iron. 
The papers produced by children in schools may be 
classified for convenience as follows : — 

Diagrams. 
Drawings. 
Sheets of notes and sketches. 



1. Letters. 


4- 


2. Essays. 


5- 


3. Charts. 


6. 



174 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

The correct form for the first, a, is well known. That 
for the second may be gathered from any magazine. 
There are but two right plans. In one the name and 
date are placed at the end of the text, b. In the other 
the name only, at the beginning after the title, c. The 
form of a chart depends somewhat upon the subject- 
matter, but in any case the topic should be the most 
prominent feature, and the sub-topics next. 





b c 

Fig. 26. — Models of Arrangement. 

Diagrams and drawings are less liable to become 
confused through lack of plan, but even here there is a 
tendency to add unnecessary and confusing details. A 
pupil's name in full, age, sex, and "previous condition 
of servitude," need not disfigure the face of the sheet. 
Such information for the benefit of people interested in 
biographic data might be written upon the back of the 
sheet. Notes and sketches should be classified in en- 
velopes or portfolios and properly marked that their 
character may be identified instantly. 

When papers are illustrated by means of clippings or 
sketches, or enriched with ornamental initials or end 
pieces, the plan of the paper as a whole should in no 
wise be obscured. 



BEAUTY IN SCHOOL WORK 



175 



3. A Sheet should have Balance. — Every work of pic- 
torial art has what may be called a " magnetic pole," or 
center of interest, and a "center of gravity." The two 
may or may not coincide. In Murillo's " Holy Family," 
they do, almost ; in Alma Tadema's " Reading Homer " 
they do not. The "center of gravity" is at the center 
of the area covered by the picture, or upon a line pass- 
ing through the center of the mass of a piece of sculp- 





d e f 

Fig. 27. — Symmetrical Arrangement. 



ture. About this center the artist disposes his material 
— weight against weight, interest against interest, spot 
over against spot — until the eye is satisfied because 
the work has a stable equilibrium. 

Every sheet produced by pupils in school should be 
balanced in effect, and thus reflect some echo of the 
harmony of a work of art. It is possible. Let a child 
once grasp the principle of balance, and his every paper 
takes on a new and fascinating interest ; he himself is 
no longer an artisan, he is exalted into the realm of the 
artist. 

In these rough diagrams of sheets, Figs. 26, 27, 28, 
notice how this principle of balance has been observed. 
In b, e, d, g, and m the matter has been arranged bisym- 



176 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

metrically, so far as written text will allow, upon a cen- 
tral axis ; in the others the matter has been distributed 
with no less care, but with less evident formality. In 
e the additional weight of the ornamental initial at the 
left is balanced by the weight of the name below at the 
right. In/, picture and text above are balanced by text 
and picture below. In h, the two initials at the left are 



O 






□ 

llll 



Fig. 28.— Balanced Arrangement. 

offset by the additional amount of text at the right of 
the central axis and by the name at the lower right 
hand. In the double-paged sheet, m is bisymmetrical 
and n balanced like/, but the sheet as a whole is bal- 
anced — the title and the smaller amount of text over 
against the larger amount of text, and the two smaller 
pictures over against the one large one. A glance at 
the plates in this chapter and in the Appendix, made 



BEAUTY IN SCHOOL WORK 177 

directly from pupils' work, will show that pupils of all 
ages can grasp this principle and apply it. Nothing 
should be placed upon any sheet at random. Illustra- 
tion, text, pupil's name or initials, and even the teacher's 
mark of approval or criticism should be placed in rela- 
tion to each other and to the sheet as a whole. 

If the measure of a man's religion is his daily life, 
the measure of a pupil's culture is his daily work. Let 
us not deceive ourselves with the notion that a well- 
decorated schoolroom and an hour a week spent in 
drawing or picture study is exalting the aesthetic stand- 
ards of the pupil, although the work of his hands is 
just as slovenly and bungling and inartistic as ever. 
When the beauty of the world has entered our souls, 
the beauty within will manifest itself in beautiful deeds. 

The third lesson which should come from the master- 
pieces upon the schoolroom wall is — 

ENRICHMENT. 

A work of art has what John La Farge calls a " full- 
ness of intention," quite inconceivable by one who has 
never attempted artistic expression. 1 Large areas of 
information, knowledge, and skill are drained to pro- 
duce a work like Alma Tadema's " Vintage Festival," 
or William Hunt's " Flight of Time " ; the quintessence 
of Myth and History, of Science and Poetry, of Nature 
and the artist's own soul are poured into that wonderful 
" Circe " by Edward Burne-Jones. 

Every sheet produced by pupils should have this 
same fullness of intention. As the artist concentrates 

1 "Considerations on Painting," Macmillan, 1896. 

N 



178 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

himself upon his canvas, and puts into it all the appro- 
priate knowledge he has, so the pupil should express him- 
self. Each sheet should be an index of the sum total of 
his powers at the time. The clear penmanship of the 
writing lesson, the fine drawing of the drawing lesson, 
the good spacing and arrangement of the lesson in 
decorative design, the correct English of the language 
lesson, the right orthography of the spelling lesson, the 
free original expressions of the conversation lesson, the 
geographical data from the lesson in geography, and 
the historical facts gleaned from the study of history, 
— all should appear in that paper on "Egypt." Only 
when one gives his first best every time, is he sure of 
having something better to give next time — "Give and 
it shall be given you " is the law in the realm of spirit. 

But it is the teacher's duty to see that the children 
have much to give. These beautiful things in the 
schoolroom should lead to an enrichment of the work 
of the school along the lines of language, history, litera- 
ture, and art. Here are some of the language topics 
suggested by such a work of art as " The Holy Family " 
(Murillo) : — 

1. Murillo's "Holy Family" — a description of the 
masterpiece. 

2. What does the " Holy Family " say to me ? 

3. Story of the Christ child. 

4. History of the canvas — when painted, for whom, 
changes in ownership and home. Its present home. 

5. The story of Murillo — his life and works. 

6. The paintings of Murillo — their style, what they 
have in common. 

7. The composition of the " Holy Family." 



BEAUTY IN SCHOOL WORK 179 

8. Murillo's place in Spanish art. 

9. Murillo's place in the history of painting. 

It will be seen that these topics cover a wide range. 
The first is not too difficult for even first year chil- 
dren. (They may as well write " I see a pretty little 
boy with a dove above his head," as " I see a cat ; the 
cat can run ; run, cat, run.") High school pupils will 
find such a topic none too easy ; it will tax their powers 
to the utmost. The seventh topic may be treated in 
any grade above the fourth year. It will mean one 
thing to a boy of twelve, and something deeper and 
richer, let us hope, to a boy of seventeen, and the 
essays will differ as widely, perhaps, as Miss Hurll's 
sketch of Raphael's " Transfiguration " 1 and Dr. Har- 
ris's ; 2 but both will be entirely legitimate and helpful. 
The upper grade pupil will not treat the eighth or ninth 
topic as would M. Henri Taine, but he will find either 
topic a richer vein to work than " The Value of a Good 
Education," or "The Improvement of Time." 

Other masterpieces will suggest similar topics, any 
one of which will be a door into a new world. How 
well Emerson has described the ideal teacher, whose 
motive is love, and whose aim is culture and power for 
her every pupil : — 

"Day by day for her darlings 
To her much she added more. 
In her hundred-gated Thebes 
Every chamber was a door ; 
A door to something grander, 
Loftier wall and wider floor." 

1 In Riverside Art Series, No. I. 

2 In Journal of Speculative Philosophy, Vol. I. 



180 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

As a proof that beautiful school work may be done by 
pupils under the twofold influence of beautiful school- 
rooms and artistic teachers, the following plates have 
been prepared by photographic reproduction from origi- 
nals by pupils in the Massachusetts schools. It is hoped 
that the explanatory notes will be found suggestive to 
the enthusiastic and ambitious teachers throughout the 
country, who have done and are doing so great a work 
for the American people. 

Plate XXXVII 

(i) A number paper by a first grade primary pupil. The little 
seal is the " medal of honor " for a correct and well-arranged sheet. 

(2) An artistic spelling paper. The pupils were asked to sketch 
at the head of the sheet something from the object, from memory, 
or from imagination. The name and date were added. Each pupil 
now wrote all the words suggested by his sketch. Each pupil thus 
chose his own subject, dictated his own words, and furnished the 
teacher with a list of words which he could not spell, that she might 
have material for the next spelling lesson. The teacher who in- 
vented that labor-saving, mind-probing device is a genius! 

Plate XXXVIII 

This plate shows at a glance the difference between a well- 
arranged paper and its opposite. The first is a language paper 
from a second grade. Each pupil was given a paper with a decal- 
comania-like flower in the corner, which served as the suggestion 
for one simple sentence, to be repeated for the sake of practice in 
writing. The second is without proper margins, without a rational 
plan, and is unbalanced and careless. The handwriting "combines 
the vices of both the vertical and slant systems. 11 

Plate XXXIX 

Lessons in mounting. Pupils were asked to bring from home, or 
to cut from old magazines among the teacher's stores, a picture of any 



BEAUTY IN SCHOOL WORK 181 

shape or subject they might fancy. They were then required to cut 
from gray paper of appropriate intensity a mount which should show 
the picture to the best advantage. The picture was then fastened to 
the mount in such a position that the four margins hold the right 
relations to each other. The illustrations are from work of fourth 
year pupils. 

Plate XL 

A language paper, by an eighth grade pupil. An example of a 
well planned and balanced sheet. Subject evident, scrap picture 
properly placed, text rightly paragraphed, effect of the whole inviting. 

Plate XLI 

A well-spaced, well-balanced history paper, but not quite orderly 
in its plan. The subject of the sheet should have been first, and the 
name of the school and pupil after it in less conspicuous handwriting. 
This page was the first of a series, illustrated by means of sketches 
and scrap pictures, which was designed to correlate closely geogra- 
phy, history, art, drawing, penmanship, and language. The pupils, 
though averaging but eleven or twelve years of age, found it fascinat- 
ing to follow the course of civilization from its root in the Nile mud 
to its flower in Christian England and America. 

Plate XLII 

This is another page from one of the pamphlets on "The Growth 
of the Civilizing Arts," by a fifth grade pupil. It is well planned and 
well balanced. The spacing of the text might be improved, but it 
will do for a twelve year old ! 

Plate XLIII 

The first page of a folio sheet by an eighth grade pupil, showing 
the correlation of geography, history, drawing, and composition. 
The paper was illustrated by sketches in pen and ink, and contained 
a full-paged plate — a picture cut from a magazine. Notice the bal- 
ance of parts and the interesting line leading the eye to the title. 
The title is a trifle small, but it would be insignificant were it not for 
the lines leading the eye to it. The sketches, the drawing, and the 



1 82 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

whole character of the page are suggestive of the Japanese spirit. It 
is a thoroughly good bit of applied design — design applied to school 
life, not to imaginary conditions. 

Plate XLIV 

Original design for a cover for a series of language papers upon 
Egyptian art, by an eighth grade pupil. The papers were upon the 
following topics : — 

i. " The Sphinx, 1 ' a poem by John L. Stoddard. 

2. The story of Joseph. 

3. Egyptian history — its great period. 

4. The tombs of Egypt. 

5. The temples. 

6. The religion of Egypt. 

The papers were illustrated with scrap pictures. In the cover 
design notice how the form of upper and lower Egypt suggests the 
lotus, so typical of all the decorative art of the country. The ar- 
rangement is good, and the title anything but prosaic. The whole 
scheme was a delight to both pupils and teachers. 

Plate XLV 

Sketches in common writing ink, diluted, upon gray paper. The 
first is an original composition by a sixth grade pupil, to illustrate 
Whittier's " Snowbound. 1 ' The second is an original composition 
by an eighth grade pupil. Subject, " Evening." They were made to 
be used in the enrichment of literature papers. 

Plate XLVI 

The design at the left is an ornamental panel, intended to deco- 
rate the cover of a series of autumn nature studies. It was drawn 
in ink by a ninth grade pupil. The others are original designs for 
ornamental initials to be used in nature-study papers by ninth grade 
children. The initials were drawn in black and one tone of gray 
upon a white ground in one case, and upon a gray ground in- the 
other. 



BEAUTY IN SCHOOL WORK 183 

Plate XLVII 

Object drawing. The problems involved are : 1, an interesting 
group ; 2, good spacing ; 3, a well-balanced sheet ; 4, pleasing rela- 
tions of dark and light. These drawings were made in two colors 
and black, by ninth year pupils. Notice the effective use of the 
monogram in the upper sheet. 

Plate XLVIII 

(1) Sheet by a high school pupil, illustrating the correlation of 
history, literature, drawing, and composition. The original was 
drawn in lead pencil. 

(2) Sheet by a normal pupil, illustrating the correlation of na- 
ture study, drawing, literature, and decorative arrangement. In the 
original, the goldfinch was in water-color and the lettering drawn 
with a brush. 

Plate XLIX 

Drawing in connection with nature study. Studies of a sprouting 
bean, by a high school pupil. The original was in color. Notice 
the arrangement of the spots on the page, and how skillfully the 
initials are added to help carry the eye around the corner. They 
form an important but unobtrusive spot and assist greatly in the 
balance of the sheet. 

Plate XL 

The cover for a set of papers on " Greek Architecture and Orna- 
ment." An original design by a normal school pupil. The papers 
were written upon unruled sheets and illustrated by means of scrap 
pictures, a map, and appropriate end-pieces. This cover was in 
water-color, three colors on a cream ground. 

Plate LI 

A cover for a set of Greek papers. An original design in two 
colors, white and black, by a high school pupil. The design is thor- 
oughly Greek in effect, yet no single element is an exact copy of a 
Greek original. 



1 84 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

Let the last word be that of William Morris : — 
"What I want to do is to put definitely before you a 
cause for which to strive. That cause is the Democracy 
of Art, the ennobling of daily and common work, which 
will one day put hope and pleasure in the place of fear 
and pain, as the forces which move men to labor and 
keep the world a-going." 



EXAMPLES OF 
ARTISTIC SCHOOL WORK 




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PLATE XXXVII. -A WELL ARRANGED NUMBER PAPER, BY A 
LOWEST GRADE PRIMARY PUPIL. AN ARTISTIC SPELLING 
PAPER, BY A SIXTH GRADE PUPIL. 




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PLATE XXXVIII. — A WELL SPACED LANGUAGE PAPER, SEC- 
OND GRADE. AN ILL ARRANGED AND POORLY WRITTEN 
LANGUAGE PAPER, SIXTH GRADE. 




PLATE XXXIX. — STUDIES IN THE MOUNTING OF PICTURES, 
BY FOURTH GRADE PUPILS. 



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PLATE XL. — A WELL ARRANGED LANGUAGE PAPER, BY AN 
EIGHTH GRADE PUPIL. 



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PLATE XLI. — A WELL SPACED HISTORY PAPER, BY A FIFTH 

GRADE PUPIL. 






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PLATE XLII. — A WELL ARRANGED HISTORY PAPER, BY A 
FIFTH GRADE PUPIL. 




maanmaaMMm 




PLATE XLIII. — ORIGINAL DESIGN FOR THE FIRST PAGE OF 
A GEOGRAPHY PAPER, BY AN EIGHTH GRADE PUPIL. 




LlT(I3O0 

DOWN - INTO ■ 

EGYPT 






PLATE XLIV. — THE FIRST PAGE OF A SERIES OF PAPERS ON 
EGYPT. AN ORIGINAL DESIGN BY AN EIGHTH GRADE 
PUPIL. 







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PLATE XLV.— ORIGINAL COMPOSITIONS IN INK WASH, BY 

GRAMMAR PUPILS. 




PLATE XLVL — ORIGINAL DESIGNS IN INK WASH, BY NINTH 

'GRADE PUPILS. 




PLATE XLVII.— DRAWINGS IN TWO COLORS AND BLACK, BY 
NINTH GRADE PUPILS. 




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cocv»\"vC». V.VV. e v£.a. 






PLATE XLVIII. — A DRAWING IN PENCIL, BY A HIGH SCHOOL 
PUPIL. A DRAWING IN WATER COLOR, BY A NORMAL 
SCHOOL PUPIL. EXAMPLES OF GOOD ARRANGEMENT. 




PLATE XLIX. — STUDIES OF A SPROUTING BEAN, BY A HIGH 

SCHOOL PUPIL. 



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ARC HIT£C TYRE 
ANP ORNAMENT. 



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PLATE L.— ORIGINAL, DESIGN FOR A COVER FOR A SET OF 
PAPERS ON GREEK ARCHITECTURE, BY A NORMAL PUPIL. 




PLATE LI. -A COVER FOR A SET OF GREEK PAPERS. 
ORIGINAL DESIGN BY A HIGH SCHOOL PUPIL. 



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APPENDIX 



A CLASSIFIED LIST OF WORKS OF ART SUITABLE FOR 
SCHOOLROOM DECORATION 



PICTURES 



Kindergarten and Primary Grades 
A Distinguished Member of the Royal Humane 



bociety 




Landseer 


Age of Innocence 




Reynolds 


An Old Monarch 




Rosa Bo7ihenr 


Babv Stuart 




Van Dyck 


By the Riverside 




Le Rolle 


Can't You Talk? 




Holmes 


Caritas 




Thayer 


Cathedral of Pisa, with Leaning 


Tower, Western. 




Children of the Shell 




Murillo 


Christ Blessing Little Children 


. Hoffman or Plockhorst 


Feeding the Birds 




Millet 


Holy Antonius of Padua . 




Murillo 


Holy Night . 




Corregio 


Little Rose . 




Whistler 


Madonna of the Chair 


• • . 


Raphael 


Milan Cathedral. 






Mother and Child 




Brush 


Norman Sire 




Rosa Bonheur 


Rest in Flight . 




Knaus 


Shepherdess Knitting 


• • • 


Millet 


The Blacksmith . 


• • • 


Frere 


The Connoisseurs 


• • • 


Landseer 


The Escaped Cow 


. 


Dufire 



185 



1 86 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 



Intermediate Grades 



Angels 1 Heads ..... 


Reynolds 


At the Watering Trough 


Dagnan-Bouveret 


Automedon ...... 


Regnaidt 


Brother and Sister .... 


Abbott Thayer 


Children of Charles I. .... 


Va7i Dyck 


Christmas Bells ..... 


Blashfield 


Cologne Cathedral, Germany. 




Dignity and Impudence 


Landseer 


Haymaker's Lunch . - 


Dupre 


Holy Night 


Le Rolle 


Horse Fair ...... 


Rosa Bonheur 


Infante Don Balthasar .... 


Velasquez 


Kahyl 


Shreyer 


Madame Le Brun and Child (Morning) 


Mme. Le Brun 


Madonna and Child .... 


Dagnan-Bouveret 


Madonna, Child and St. John 


Bouguereau 


Madonna di San Sisto .... 


Raphael 


Odin (Dog) 


Landseer 


On the Coast near Scheveningen . 


Mesdag 


Paysage ...... 


Corot 


Penelope Boothby .... 


Reynolds 


Pharaoh's Horses ..... 


Herring 


Pilgrims going to Church 


Boughton 


Ploughing ...... 


Rosa Bonheur 


Return of the Fishing Boats . 


Mesdag 


Return from the Farm 


Troyon 


St. Mark's Church, Venice. 




Shepherdess ...... 


Le Rolle 


The Gleaners 


Millet 



Grammar Grades 

Amiens Cathedral, France. 

A Morning Landscape Corot 

Aurora Guido Rem 

Capitol at Washington. 

Christ in the Temple Hoffman 



APPENDIX 



I8 7 



Church of Santa Maria della Salute. 




Dance of the Nymphs .... 


Corot 


Ducal Palace, Venice. 




Equestrian Statue of General Colleoni . 


Verrocchio 


Fighting Teme'raire .... 


Turner 


Grand Canal and Rialto Bridge, Venice. 




Harvest Moon ..... 


Mason 


Houses of Parliament, London, or New Palace 


of Westminster. 




In the Meadow 


Le Rolle 


Madonna of the Shop .... 


Dagnan-Bouveret 


Madonna Gran Duca .... 


Raphael 


Mount Vernon. 




Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris. 








Porta Della Carta, Venice. 




Portrait of Rubens .... 


Rubens 


Queen Louise . 


Richter 


Reading from Homer .... 


Alma-Tadema 


Shaw Memorial 


St. Gaudens 


Sir Galahad ...... 


Watts 


St. Cecilia ...... 


Raphael 


Temperance ...... 


Bume-Jones 


The Alhambra, Granada, Court of Lions. 




The Golden Stairs .... 


Bume-Jones 


The Haymaker ..... 


Ada7i 


The King of Rome .... 


Greuze 


The Quest of the Grail Series : 




Oath of Knighthood 


Abbey 


Round Table of King Arthur . 


Abbey 


The Shepherdess 


Millet 


The Sower 


Millet 


The Taj Mahal, India. 




The Water Carrier .... 


Millet 


Virgin Enthroned . 


Abbott Thayer 


Virgin, Infant Jesus, and St. John 


Botticelli 


Washington ...... 


Stuart 


Westminster Abbey, London. 





1 88 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 



High School 



A Doge of Venice 



Angels .... 
Angel Trumpeters (colored) 
Angelus .... 



Appian Way, Rome. 

Approach to Venice . 

Arch of Titus. 

Breaking Home Ties 

Canterbury Pilgrims . 

Castle of St. Angelo and the Tiber. 

Christ and the Rich Ruler . 

Circe ..... 

Diana's Bath .... 

Duomo and Campanile, Florence. 

Elizabeth Bas .... 

Evolution of the Book (series of six) 

Frieze of the Prophets 

Government (series of five) 

Jeanne d'Arc 

Julian 

Lady Hamilton . 

Last Supper 

Moses 

Mosque of Omar, Jerusalem. 

Napoleon at Waterloo. 

Portrait of his Mother 

Primavera . 

Princes in the Tower 

Roman Forum. View from Colosseum. 

St. Michel and Satan 

St. Michel and Satan 

SouPs Awakening 

Sybils. 

The Days of Creation 

The Vintage Festival 

Ulysses deriding Polyphemus 




Bellini 

Farli 

Fra Angelico 

Millet 

Turner 

Hovenden 
Blake 

Hoffman 

Bume-Jones 

Corot 

Rembrandt 
Alexander 
Sargent 
Vedder 
Le Page 
Michel Angelc 
Romney 
Da Vinci 
Michel Angelc 



Whistler 
Botticelli 
Millais 

Guido Rent 

Raphael 

Sant 

Michel Angelc 

Burne-Jones 

Alma-Tadema 

Turner 



APPENDIX 



189 



View of Acropolis and Parthenon. 

View of Arch of Constantine. 

View of Erechtheum and Caryatid Porch, Ionic Order. 

View of Isle of Philae and Pharaoh's Bed. 

View of Pantheon. 

View of Sphinx and Pyramids. 



CASTS 

Kindergarten and Primary Grades 

Bambino — From Children's Hospital, Florence. 
Bambino — From Children's Hospital, Florence. 

Cat Fremiet 

Cherub — From Tomb of Henry IV. 
Cherub — From Tomb of Henry IV. 

Cock Fremiet 

Elephant Barye 

Lion Barye 

Madonna and Child. 
Madonna and Child. 

Madonna and Child Andrea delta Robbia 

Rabbit Fremiet 

Seraph. 

Singing Cherubs. 

St. John Bargello 

St. John, in Boyhood. 



Intermediate Grades 

Choir Boys, or (Seven Boys singing from One Book.) Luca delta Robbia 

Columbus . . - Canova 

Elephant (running) 

Faun 

Flight of Time . 

Lion 

Madonna and Child 

Maiden of Lille 



Barye 
Praxiteles 
William Hunt 
Barye 

Bargello, Florence 
Attributed to Raphael 



190 SCHOOL SANITATION AND DECORATION 

Morning . Thorwaldsen 

Night Thorwaldsen 

Nun Seated. 

St. George Donatello, Florence 

St. John — From the Pinacoteca, Florence. 

Triumph of Alexander .... Thorwaldsen 

Venus of Melos — From the Louvre. 

Grammar Grades 
Angels. 

Angels. 

Angels Bearing Wreaths — From San Zanobia's 

Monument in the Duomo, Florence. 
Angels with Musical Instruments — From the 

Front of an Altar in the Church of San Tro- 

vasso, Venice (fifteenth century). 
Apollo in a Chariot. 
Apollo Belvedere — At Rome, or the Vatican. 

Bear (dancing) Barye 

Chariot Race (Ouadriges). 
Chariot Race (Quadriges). 
Choir Boys, or (Five Boys singing from One Scroll.) Luca della Robbia 

David A. Mercie 

Diana of Versailles — From the Louvre. 

Hypnos — Original in British Museum. 

Moorish Panel — From the Alhambra. 

Moorish Panel — From the Alhambra. 

Nike, or Victory, untying Sandals . . Praxiteles 

Nike, or Victory of Samothrake — From the 

Louvre. 
Nubian Girl. 

Panther Barye 

Portrait Antonio Pollajolo 

Scroll, with Griffins. 

Slave Michael Angelo 

Sphinx — From British Museum. 

Victory, or Nike' — From National Museum, 

Naples. 



APPENDIX 



191 



High School 

Apollo and the Muses. 

Bacchante — From Capitoline Museum, Rome. 

Capital — From the Alhambra. 

Choir Boys, or (Six Boys playing on Trumpets; 
Four Children dancing.) .... 

Menos Procession, the Nine Muses. 

Moorish Panel — From the Alhambra. 

Moorish Panel — From the Alhambra. 

Nike' decorating a Trophy — From the Balus- 
trade of the Temple of Nikd Apteros, 
Athens. 

Parthenon Frieze, Slabs from Western Frieze. 

St. Cecilia. 

Savonarola. 

Six Children playing on Cymbals 

Augustus (young). 

Dante . 

Hermes, Olympian 

Homer {Naples) 

Jupiter, or Zeus of Atricoli — From the Vatican. 
Minerva Giustiniani — In the Braccio Nuovo of 

the Vatican. 
Narcissus — From National Museum, Naples. 
Sophocles — From Lateran Museum. 
Unknown Woman — From the Louvre. 



Ltica della Robbia 



Luca della Robbia 

{Naples) 
Praxiteles 



